Last updated: August 9, 2021
Challenging the IHRA Defnition of Antisemitism
Date Headline/Link Source/author(s) Excerpt
9 Against the IHRA: Why it’s Tribune Magazine (UK)/Julia Bard “The IHRA Working Defniton is fnally unravelling, but over the last fve years it has set August Time to Adopt the back the real fght against antsemitsm. We have a lot of work to do to replace it, to end 2021 Jerusalem Declaraton its use in weaponising ant-Jewish racism, and to rebuild alliances and solidarity with other minorites. The Jerusalem Declaraton on Antsemitsm, on the other hand, has presented us with an opportunity to strengthen the fght against racism everywhere, including the vital challenge to antsemitsm which has been so ill-served by the IHRA Working Defniton. If we seize this opportunity, we can also ensure that it is used to create crucial space for progressive campaigners to understand and contribute to the liberaton of the peoples of Palestne and Israel.”
27 July Biden’s pick for The Forward/Kenneth Stern “Unfortunately, as I testfed before Congress in 2017 and wrote in a recent book, the 2021 antsemitsm envoy will working defniton has been primarily used (and I argue, grossly abused) to suppress and need to answer these chill pro-Palestnian speech, startng on campus in 2010, and then more broadly…As I tough questons and many others have writen — no one more eloquently than Joe Cohn of the Foundaton for Individual Rights in Educaton — there already exists a tendency of the politcal right and the politcal lef to censor and chill politcal opponents. A defniton applied like IHRA, as one reviewer of my book pointed out in critcism of my role, has a clear efect: ‘[I]f you give witch hunters a manual for the discovery of witchcraf they will fnd witches.’ IHRA’s zealous supporters ofen say that to combat antsemitsm, one has to defne it. In my view, that simply isn’t true. Defnitons are useful for data collectors, but it’s not as if people didn’t fght antsemitsm before the defniton was created over 16 years ago.”
8 July The Zionist assault on The Israeli Commitee Against Home Demolitons (ICHAD)/ “It is clear that the actual menace of antsemitsm bothers Israel less than critcism of its 2021 Judaism Jef Haler policies. By focusing so narrowly on Israel, weaponized antsemitsm lets real ant- Semites of the hook. Evangelicals who teach that at Armageddon Jews either die or are converted to Christanity, but who are “pro-Israel” because they need Israel to bring about the End of Days. Or classic European ant-Semites like Hungary’s Viktor Orban or Poland’s Andrzej Duda who support Israel because they see it as the kind of ethnically exclusive society they aspire to impose on their own countries, to which we might add the likes of Modi in India. By contrast, the Britsh Labour Party, kowtowing to Israel and the organized Jewish community, expels or suspends prominent Jewish members critcal of Israel.”
7 July Universites - the new Labour Briefng (UK)/Jonathan Rosenfead “The struggle for free speech on Israel/ Palestne is at a critcal stage. It could go either 2021 batlefeld in the way. Universites’ willingness to take their staf and students through disciplinary antsemitsm wars processes for things they teach or write or tweet about Zionism, setler colonialism or apartheid, afects more than those directly involved. Just as in the Labour Party, people become unsure what it is permited to say, and many decide it is beter not to say anything at all. The chilling efect is the weapon of mass silencing. That is why the current phase of the campus batle against impositon of the IHRA defniton is so crucial.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 1 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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14 June Ant-Zionism, INSS/Kenneth Stern “The weaponizaton of the ‘working defniton’ of antsemitsm and the asserton that 2021 Antsemitsm, and the ant-Zionism is antsemitsm as US government policy (Kushner, 2019) clearly show that Fallacy of Bright Lines not all such allegatons are wrong or made in bad faith. Let us not forget that this scarlet leter ‘A’ was advocated by the Trump administraton against groups like Amnesty Internatonal and Human Rights Watch (with potental implicatons for their funding) (Toosi, 2020). Let us not ignore that some pro-Israel actvists champion the chilling efect of the antsemitsm charge as a good thing (Marcus, 2013). The Simon Wiesenthal Center even says that the ‘working defniton’ of antsemitsm should be used to bar ‘Israel Apartheid Week’ on college campuses (Simon Wiesenthal Center, 2017). Meanwhile, many mainstream Jewish groups not only remain silent about such eforts but contnue to insist that the use of the ‘working defniton’ in this witch-hunt fashion does not restrict free speech.”
6 June Stephen Sedley: Former Lord Justce of Appeal and Judge ad hoc of the “It is now fve years since the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (the IHRA) 2021 Statement on IHRA European Court of Human Rights; past visitng professor of published what it called “a non-legally binding working defniton of ant-semitsm”. It is law, Oxford University. a clumsy piece of drafing distnguished by two partcular features: it fails the frst test of any defniton by being open-ended and indefnite; and it is accompanied by examples some of which are visibly designed to protect Israel from legitmate critcism. “
10 May Palestnian lives mater, The Observer (student paper of Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s, “One of these controversial IHRA’s illustratons reads that antsemitsm amounts to 2021 too &Holy Cross)/Atalia Omer, professor of religion, confict and “[d]enying the Jewish people their right to self-determinaton, e.g., by claiming that the peace studies existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” If this illustraton appears to you as self-evidently antsemitc, you need to check your ethical blinders. What this illustraton does not menton is that the fulfllment of the “right to self-determinaton” for Jews entailed the ethnic cleansing of the Palestnians. This is not “an opinion” but a historical fact established by Israeli and Palestnian historians as well as, of course, by the intergeneratonal memories of the people who resist amnesia in refugee camps and the diasporas. Indeed, the real story is who is omited from IHRA and why and whose agenda does it serve?”
27 April Leter: UMass should not Leter to the Massachusets Daily Collegian/Jon Blum & “despite the good intentons of those seeking to adjudicate cases of antsemitsm, the 2021 adopt the IHRA defniton Sonya Epstein IHRA defniton has increasingly been used by Pro-Israel groups to advance their own of antsemitsm agendas in the name of fghtng antsemitsm. The defniton includes examples which confate critques of the State of Israel and ant-Zionism with antsemitsm, a move that could suppress Palestnian liberaton actvism. For example, StandWithUs cited the defniton in a 2019 case which sought to ban the Fordham chapter of Students for Justce in Palestne (SJP). Among other examples, it is clear that this defniton is actvely being used to stfe free speech in an efort to silence Palestne solidarity actvists. Kenneth Stern, one of the leading authors of the 2005 working defniton has repeatedly spoken out against this adopton of the IHRA defniton because of the way it has been weaponized against pro-Palestne speech.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 2 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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23 April THE POLITICS OF A Jamie Stern-Weiner, PhD candidate, Wolfson College, “It has been claimed that the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) 2021 DEFINITION - How the University of Oxford Working Defniton of Antsemitsm, ‘including its 11 examples’, refects an internatonal IHRA Working Defniton consensus of antsemitsm experts. This report, based on my doctoral research at the of Antsemitsm Is Being Also see: IHRA ‘misrepresents’ own defniton of ant- University of Oxford, exposes that claim as untrue: 1)There is no expert consensus Misrepresented Semitsm, says report (Al Jazeera); How the IHRA supportng the Working Defniton. 2)IHRA’s decision-making body, the Plenary, did not antsemitsm defniton became a pro-Israel cudgel adopt any examples of ‘antsemitsm’ as part of its Working Defniton. 3)Senior IHRA (MondoWeiss) ofcials and pro-Israel groups have misrepresented the IHRA Plenary’s decision in order to smuggle into the Working Defniton examples that can be used to protect Israel from critcism. 4)These examples have been used, in practce, to censor Israel’s critcs.”
22 April If I am only for myself, Vasht/Rivkah Brown interviews Professor David Feldman “The [IHRA] working defniton has been widely adopted. For many organisatons, the 2021 who am I? Professor (director of the Insttute for the Study of Antsemitsm act of adopton became a convenient symbol of their oppositon to antsemitsm. But David Feldman on the (formerly the Pears Insttute) at Birkbeck, University of the defniton is not only a symbol: it is also intended to be an operatonal and Jerusalem Declaraton on London since its founding in 2010) educatonal document. This is where problems arise, and why it has been important for Antsemitsm us to ofer an alternatve. The working defniton points to the fact that critcism of Israel and Zionism can become the setng for antsemitsm; seven of its 11 examples deal with this. But it is in its imprecise dealing with this thorny issue that the working defniton’s authors created a problem. The working defniton is invoked in atempts to close down legitmate debate on Israel and Palestne. Its cautous words about the need to assess any allegaton of antsemitsm ‘taking into account the overall context’ are widely ignored. Instead, the boycot movement (even when applied to setlement products only) and mild critcisms of the Israeli state are condemned as inherently antsemitc. We don’t have to support the boycot or this or that critcism of Israel to recognise that this is wrong. The absence of any menton of antracist principles or universal rights in the IHRA working defniton mean that abuses such as these proliferate. Afer more than fve decades of occupaton, setlement building and, more recently, a Naton-State Law that formalises discriminaton against Palestnians, this is signifcant. It should be no surprise that Palestnians complain that the working defniton stands in the way of them speaking about their experiences.”
20 April Why I Signed the Fathom Journal/Derek Penslar (professor of Jewish History “In recent years, the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) defniton of 2021 Jerusalem Declaraton: A at Harvard & Resident Faculty at the Minda de Gunzburg antsemitsm has been enshrined in policy and law by universites, civic organisatons, Response to Cary Nelson Center for European Studies’ and governments. This is bizarre, as the IHRA defniton was developed for the purpose of data collecton, not policy making, and its authors acknowledged its protean status. (It was called a ‘working’ defniton.) Nonetheless, this defniton has been invoked in eforts to restrict the free and open exchange of ideas beyond the necessity to protect public safety and prohibit discriminaton and harassment. The most recent and absurd such atempt has occurred just now, at Temple University in Philadelphia and Stockton University in New Jersey, where a co-sponsored Zoom event on the misuse of the IHRA has encountered protest that such an event is itself antsemitc, ‘abhorrent,’ and an ‘abominaton.’”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 3 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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19 April A beter instrument for The Hamilton Spectator/Harry Shannon “the JDA recognizes that ant-Semitsm is a scourge that must be dealt with. By 2021 fghtng ant-Semitsm identfying what is and is not ant-Semitc, they have given us a defniton that, unlike the IHRA-WDA, is easy to understand and can be a vital tool in the fght against genuine ant-Semitsm.”
19 April Why is the EU helping to +972 Magazine/Ilan Baruch (Ambassador (ret.) Ilan Baruch “By adoptng the IHRA defniton, the EU is playing into the agendas of Israel advocacy 2021 label Israel critcism as chairs the Policy Working Group, a collectve of senior Israeli groups that undermine civil society work against the occupaton.” antsemitsm? academics, former ambassadors, and human rights defenders who advocate and promote a transformaton of relatons between Israel and Palestne from occupaton to coexistence based on a two-state soluton.)
18 April Two Jews, Three Haaretz/Jonathan Shamir “Two new documents published by Jewish intellectuals challenge the Internatonal 2021 Defnitons: New Holocaust Remembrance Alliance defniton of antsemitsm and its emphasis on Israel.” Documents Challenge Mainstream View of Antsemitsm
15 April We reject the IHRA The Mac Weekly (Student paper of Macalester)/Sophia "Openly adoptng the IHRA defniton leads insttutons like Macalester to play into the 2021 defniton: why recent Sahm & Rebecca Driker-Ohren hands of the right by driving a wedge between Jews and our allies in the progressive eforts to combat movement, while leaving the actual threat to our safety — violent white natonalism — antsemitsm dangerously untouched and unchecked. The true threat facing the Jewish community is miss the mark antsemitsm, not constructve critcism of the Israeli government. And constructve critcism of Israel should not be mistaken for antsemitsm. We now call on President Suzanne Rivera, the Macalester Board of Trustees and all other Macalester leadership to make a statement condemning the atack on free speech that is the IHRA defniton of antsemitsm.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 4 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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15 April Batle of Antsemitsm Religion Dispatches/Joshua Shanes (Associate Professor of “…The real debate is about critcizing Israel. Although IHRA notes the importance of 2021 Defnitons is Actually a Jewish Studies, and Director of the Arnold Center for Israel context, in practce its vague language and large net has been misused to target pro- Proxy War For Critcism of Studies, at the College of Charleston) Palestnian advocacy on college campuses and in legislaton. For example, IHRA’s Israel concern about critcizing Israel by a ‘double standard’ has ofen been interpreted to mean that anyone who protests Israeli human rights violatons without equal atenton to other countries has a ‘double standard’ and is therefore presumed guilty of antsemitsm. It opens up almost any critcism of Israel to that charge. The JDA addresses this and other problems with specifc examples of common ant-Israel rhetoric that crosses the line to antsemitsm and specifc examples of common rhetoric or actons (e.g. boycot) that do not. The list of signatures and subsequent endorsements is impressive, although there has been heated pushback by those who insist that the IHRA defniton must be maintained. Indeed, one respondent—David Hirsh, author of Contemporary Lefwing Antsemitsm (the focus of his actvism)— accused the authors and supporters of the JDA of composing the defniton not to fght antsemitsm but to ‘fght eforts to fght antsemitsm’; of standing with antsemites to protect them! This is an outrageous atack against some of the most respected scholars and Jewish leaders in the world.”
15 April The IHRA Defniton of The New York Jewish Week -Times of Israel/Jerome Chanes “At botom, codifying the IHRA into law or campus speech codes will have a chilling 2021 Ant-Semitsm Puts Jews (a senior fellow at the Center for Jewish Studies of the CUNY efect on critcism of Israel — especially on the campus — and put the Jewish on the Wrong Side of the Graduate Center who has writen extensively on ant- community on the wrong side of the First Amendment. More basic, as policy analyst First Amendment Semitsm) Jonathan Jacoby suggests, is the agenda of those pushing for the adopton the IHRA agenda: ‘The efort to defne ant-Semitsm in IHRA is largely a ploy of the pro-Israel Right to fght an ant-Israelism of the Lef.’”
15 April Between Antsemitsm Haaretz/Eva Illouz (Eva Illouz holds the Rose Isaac Chair in “In castng dissenters and critcs of Israel as antsemites, the Israeli politcal right has 2021 and ant-Zionism: The sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is a created an unprecedented line of fracture within the Jewish people, one that privileges Intellectual's Dilemma senior research fellow at the Van Leer Insttute.) the politcal interests of the State of Israel over its solidarity with liberal Jews; and it favors the aims of Israel internal policy to the detriment of the struggle against antsemitsm. This strategy has had startling and unintended efects: It lessens the commitment of Jews to their ethnicity and religion, and instead makes them increasingly defne themselves in terms of their politcs. The weaponizaton of antsemitsm will likely accentuate an already deep divide in the Jewish people, between those who fght antsemitsm in the name of internatonal norms of justce and those who will make the struggle against antsemitsm ancillary to Israeli politcs of expansion.”
14 April The Jerusalem Free Speech on Israel (UK)/Rob Ferguson “The Jerusalem Declaraton on Antsemitsm (JDA) is a highly welcome development. Its 2021 Declaraton on key signifcance lies in its potental for mobilising signifcantly wider oppositon to the Antsemitsm and free Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) “working defniton” of expression antsemitsm, and atempts to de-legitmise free expression on Israel and solidarity with Palestne.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 5 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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13 April Jewish Students at The Algemeiner/Sharon Wrobel “The SUPR alleged that the defniton provided by the IHRA “limits the understanding of 2021 Michigan State University Also see report from Michigan News Journal the true roots of antsemitsm [and] plays an actve role in silencing politcal thought Withdraw Previously surrounding the occupaton of historic Palestne.” Instead, the SUPR called for adoptng Passed Antsemitsm Bill the Jerusalem Declaraton of Antsemitsm (JDA), an alternatve proposed by critcs of Afer Backlash, the IHRA defniton.” ‘Weaponized’ Process
12 April CUNY Student Senate Jewish Journal/Adam Bandler “The City University of New York’s (CUNY) University Student Senate (USS) voted down a 2021 Votes Down Resoluton Also see: CUNY student senate rejects dueling resolutons on resoluton endorsing the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Endorsing IHRA IHRA defniton of ant-Semitsm (JNS); ‘It was a disaster’: defniton of ant-Semitsm and another resoluton supportng a watered-down Inside a ferce batle over antsemitsm at CUNY (The defniton of ant-Semitsm afer a fve-hour debate. The resoluton with the watered- Forward) down defniton of ant-Semitsm, which was being pushed by the CUNY Jewish Law Students Associaton (JLSA) and Students for Justce in Palestne (SJP), defned ant- Semitsm as ‘hostlity, prejudice, vilifcaton, discriminaton or violence directed against Jews, as individuals, groups, or as a collectve — because they are Jews. Its expression includes atributng to Jews, as a group, practces, characteristcs or behaviors that are perceived as dangerous, harmful, frightening, or threatening to non-Jews.’ It also claimed that ‘the equaton of speech and actvity opposing Israel and Zionism, and/or supportng Palestnians, as inherently antsemitc is a form of ant-Palestnian racism.’”
10 April Tackling Hate, The Bullet/leter to Canadian Minister of Justce/Atorney “a clear line must be drawn between bona fde hate speech and legitmate forms of 2021 Protect Dissent General & to Minister of Canadian Heritage, from Canadian dissent and protest. We are partcularly concerned with where that line may fall organizatons commited to the defence of human rights, between clear instances of antsemitsm, on one hand, and critcism of the state of civil libertes, and the eradicaton of discriminaton Israel, on the other. There is a concerted efort by some groups to blur this line. In lockstep with the Israeli government, pro-Israel advocacy organizatons in Canada are urging Canada to connect the deeply fawed and widely rejected Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working defniton of antsemitsm (IHRA-WDA) with this new online hate legislaton…”
9 April CUNY Student Senate to Jewish Journal/Adam Bandler “The City University of New York’s (CUNY) Student Senate will be votng on a resoluton 2021 Vote on Resoluton Text of resoluton that rejects the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) defniton of ant- Rejectng IHRA Semitsm on April 11. The resoluton is being pushed by the CUNY Jewish Law Students Associaton and CUNY Students for Justce in Palestne in response to a March resoluton adoptng IHRA. The resoluton states that the IHRA defniton ‘has been used to create a false and dangerous polarity of interests between Palestnian/ pro-Palestnian rights students and Jewish students’ and ‘endangers and defames those advocatng for Palestnian rights as inherently antsemitc and has already been used to smear Palestnian, Arab, and Muslim groups and individuals at CUNY, and to stfe free speech and politcal debate on campuses.’ Additonally, the resoluton alleges that ‘the equaton of speech and actvity opposing Israel and Zionism, and/or supportng Palestnians, as inherently antsemitc is a form of ant-Palestnian racism’ and that ‘antsemitsm is not an exceptonal form of bigotry. People and systems that hate, discriminate and/or atack Jews, have also upheld structural racism, patriarchy, and white supremacy.’”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 6 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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1 April The Jerusalem The Naton/Brian Klug (senior research fellow and tutor in “For several years, there has been a rise in ant-Semitc incidents in the United States, 2021 Declaraton on philosophy at St. Benet's Hall, Oxford and a member of the Europe, and other parts of the world. The IHRA defniton was presented as a tool for Antsemitsm - Why the philosophy faculty at Oxford University. fghtng this scourge, but it has generated widespread confusion and biter controversy oldest hatred needs a —especially regarding its emphasis on speech about Zionism and Israel/Palestne. The new defniton. IHRA defniton tends to divert atenton away from the threat that Jews face from the far right and populist movements, divide the forces opposing racism (and other forms of bigotry), and muddy the waters over the diference between ant-Zionism and ant- Semitsm. This, in turn, places unacceptable constraints on politcal debate about the future for Israel/Palestne and on protest by Palestnians and their allies (including many Jews).”
31 New declaraton is way Times of Israel (Blogs)/Yair Wallach (Senior Lecturer in Israeli “The IHRA working defniton of antsemitsm won wide support because of the March out of antsemitsm- Studies, and head of the Centre for Jewish Studies, in SOAS, atenton it gave to Israel-related rhetoric. But as many supporters of the IHRA 2021 Israel-Palestne University of London.) acknowledge, the defniton has faws. Much of its language is ambiguous, imprecise, entanglement and open to wildly diferent interpretatons. Some right-wing elements aim to use it in a maximalist fashion, to curtail discussion and actvism on Israel/Palestne. They atempt to codify the IHRA (despite its “non-binding” status) and to give it quasi-legal power. This has caused legitmate outcry from Palestnians, who face increasing restrictons on their ability to speak on their experience of injustce and oppression. A situaton in which the fght against antsemitsm is pited against the struggle for Palestnian rights, is terrible for everyone involved. And it does not have to be this way.”
31 Challenging Antsemitsm: Tikkun/Donna Nevel “We don’t need more defnitons (of antsemitsm) to protect Jews or to fght March Why Critcism of Israel antsemitsm, especially ones that contnue to include Israel as a partcular focus. 2021 Shouldn’t be Singled Out Instead, we should contnue to put front and center the calls from community afer & Our Interconnected community that are doing the work to challenge injustce: Our work against ant-Black Struggles for Justce racism, white supremacy, Islamophobia, ant-Asian racism, antsemitsm, transphobia, and all forms of injustce are deeply connected to one another. That is easy to say, but we must practce this in our lives, which means, at the very least, not minimizing other struggles for justce, and, at our best, thinking tangibly about how connectng our struggles can be a lived reality. “
30 Critcism of Israel and Its Haaretz/Omer Bartov (Professor at Brown University whose "The Israeli government and its supporters have a keen interest in blurring the March Policies Isn't Antsemitsm book, “Anatomy of a Genocide: The Life and Death of a Town distncton between critcism of Israel and antsemitsm, in order to paint any 2021 Called Buczacz,” was awarded the 2019 Yad Vashem substantve, harsh critcism of Israel’s policies toward the Palestnians as antsemitc. By Internatonal Prize for Holocaust Research.) these lights, opposing the occupaton is considered antsemitc, BDS is antsemitc, critcism of Zionism is antsemitc, and the Internatonal Criminal Court in the Hague is of course without a shadow of doubt antsemitc. The Israeli government and its supporters have put tremendous efort into advancing this noton…This efort by the Israeli government and its supporters makes use of the defniton of antsemitsm adopted by the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016. Since that tme it has been used, perhaps contrary to the intenton of some of its authors, to stfe any bitng critcism of Israel and its policies.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 7 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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29 Der Versuch einer neuen Zeit (Germany)/Katharina Galor (a German-Israeli art [translated from German] “We all try again and again, very conscientously, but with a March Defniton [The trial of a historian and archaeologist with a focus on Israel and certain exhauston and helplessness, to bring the words ant-Semitsm, racism, Germany 2021 new Defniton Palestne. She has taught since 1998 at Brown University) and Israel together into a logical concept. A new efort now does justce to this. It is the Jerusalem Declaraton on Ant-Semitsm (JDA), published a few days ago, involving a group of twenty scholars, mostly of Jewish faith, most of them Israeli citzens. It should be a concise "guide for the confused", a guide for all those who want to recognize ant- Semitc tendencies, discourses and actons in order to be able to fght them efectvely. The document has now been signed by more than 200 internatonal scholars who are mainly devoted to research into ant-Semitsm and related research areas and topics. It should be understood as an improvement, a supplement or even a correcton of the confusing atempt of the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) to defne ant-Semitsm.”
27 Over 200 scholars say JTA/Ron Kampeas “Among the declaraton’s lead drafers are ant-Semitsm scholars in the United States, March backing Israel boycots is Also see: Opposing Zionism is not hate speech, new Israel, Germany and Britain.“ 2021 not ant-Semitc antsemitsm defniton asserts - Ali Harb/Middle East Eye
26 We Need a Beter Slate/Joshua Shanes and Dov Waxman “the IHRA defniton—specifcally some of its examples pertaining to Israel—has been March Defniton of Ant- misused to target pro-Palestnian advocacy, especially on college campuses. Scholars, 2021 Semitsm students, actvists, and even artsts have been branded ant-Semites (even when they are Jewish) for opposing Zionism, advocatng for a Palestnian right of return, or promotng the Boycot, Divestment, and Sanctons campaign against Israel. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo even used the IHRA defniton in an atempt to label Oxfam, Amnesty Internatonal, and Human Rights Watch as ant-Semitc because of their critcism of Israeli government policies and practces toward Palestnians. Using the IHRA defniton to smear or silence critcs of Israel not only threatens freedom of expression and academic freedom, as its own lead author Kenneth Stern has warned, it also undermines the fght against ant-Semitsm as charges of ant-Semitsm are devalued and increasingly perceived as politcally motvated. This weaponizaton of the IHRA defniton of ant-Semitsm has been facilitated by its ambiguity. Although it does not simply equate ant-Zionism with ant-Semitsm, or label all critcism of Israel to be ant-Semitc—as some opponents of the defniton assert—its vague, conditonal wording is open to misinterpretatons and misuse. Its conditonal phrasing—that critcism “could, taking into account the overall context” cross the line to ant-Semitsm —is too ofen forgoten, or even purposefully ignored. Some of its examples relatng to Israel are partcularly prone to such problems.”
26 Neue Defniton des Norddeutscher Rundfunk - interview with German historian [translated from German] The IHRA defniton “is very vague and very imprecise. It March Antsemitsmus-Begrifs Ufa Jensen suggests, too, sometmes wrong ideas in their nature, as defned by ant-Semitsm…the 2021 vorgelegt [New Defniton IHRA Defniton has been increasingly drawn into a politcal debate. Because it's about of ant-Semitsm, the how you have to read the Middle East confict and how one has to understand certain concept presented] critcism of Israel, whether that is antsemitc or not.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 8 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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26 Was Einstein an Ant- Inside Higher Ed/Neve Gordon & Mark LeVine “Was Albert Einstein an ant-Semite? Was Hannah Arendt? These questons may sound March Semite? ludicrous. Yet, according to the defniton of ant-Semitsm that more than 30 countries 2021 -- including the United States through the Biden administraton -- recently adopted, these two leading intellectuals could very well be labeled as such. This is due to an open leter they sent on Dec. 4, 1948, to The New York Times, claiming that the right-wing Herut Party in the newly formed State of Israel was “closely akin in its organizaton, methods, politcal philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist partes…The defniton in queston is the 2016 Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) “working defniton of ant-Semitsm,” which has become a tool of choice for so-called pro-Israel organizatons. This defniton shifs the meaning of ant-Semitsm from its traditonal focus on hatred of Jews per se -- the idea that Jews are naturally inferior and/ or evil, or a belief in worldwide Jewish-led conspiracies or Jewish control of capitalism, or some combinaton thereof -- to one based largely and, it seems, most importantly, on how critcal one is toward Israel’s colonial and rights-abusive policies.”
26 Why I Signed the Jewish Currents/Barry Trachtenberg “It is regretable that more than a year’s worth of intellectual tme and energy had to be March Jerusalem Declaraton on spent on this initatve, which risks further classifying speech concerning Jews as a 2021 Antsemitsm “special case” that requires its own set of guidelines. However, the damage done by the IHRA defniton of antsemitsm is profound. It has restricted reasonable debates about Israel and done nothing to lessen antsemitsm. It must be stopped in its tracks. Whatever its shortcomings, the JDA is the product of a long, thoughtul process of ethical dialogue between an internatonal body of scholars and a broad range of interest groups, all of whom are deeply invested in combatng antsemitsm. As such, it is a work of consensus with which I suspect none of the signers will be completely satsfed. Nevertheless, it is a necessary tool to identfy antsemitsm while defending the right to speech and politcal acton that is critcal of Israel. Now that it has been drafed, we can get on with the work of dismantling antsemitsm and supportng freedom in Palestne/ Israel.”
26 Antsemitsmus neu und tachles - The Jewish weekly magazine (Switzerland)/Valerie [translated from German] “Well-known internatonal scholars present the new March klar defniert [Ant- Wendenburg (editor in chief) Jerusalem Declaraton on ant-Semitsm and references to the shortcomings of the ant- 2021 Semitsm, redefned and Semitsm Defniton of the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.” clear ]
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 9 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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26 A new antsemitsm EU Observer/By Aleida Assmann, Alon Confno and David “In practce, however, the IHRA defniton has turned into a source of confusion and March defniton to ease IHRA Feldman contenton. This has to do with 11 "contemporary examples of antsemitsm" atached 2021 confusion to the defniton, seven of which relate to Israel. In practce, these examples are exploited to delegitmise individuals and groups critcal of Israel or Zionism as antsemitc. This has a chilling efect on free speech and academic freedom and distracts from the acute danger of far-right antsemitsm. Instead of unifying people in order to combat antsemitsm the IHRA defniton has unfortunately become highly divisive. It is against this background, that a group of scholars from all over the world came together in 2020, under the aegis of the Van Leer Insttute in Jerusalem, to critcally assess the IHRA defniton and seek to clarify those aspects of it which cause confusion and concern.”
25 The IHRA’s Careless Univ of Notre Dame-Keough School of Global Afairs/Moshe “…The defniton Williamson insists on imposing carelessly confates “Jews” with “the March Confatons on Behar state of Israel” and “Judaism” with “modern politcal Zionism.” The original confaton 2021 Antsemitsm (and Few between these identtes and phenomena was—and remains—an inherent organizing Alternatves) pillar of Zionist ideology. Self-proclaimed pro-Israel bodies and individuals exercise this confaton regularly in texts, actons, and advocacy. It comes as no surprise that this confaton has ofen been reproduced by Israel’s ant-Zionist critcs, at tmes consciously and at other tmes as a consequence of inexcusable ignorance.”
25 Leading Jewish scholars The Forward/Arno Rosenfeld “Boycotng Israel and calling for an end to its Jewish majority is not inherently March say BDS, one-state antsemitc, according to a new defniton of antsemitsm released Thursday by a group 2021 soluton are not of more than 200 scholars of Jewish studies. The Jerusalem Declaraton on Antsemitsm antsemitc represents the latest salvo in the debate over how to defne ant-Jewish bigotry and is the most permissive of the mainstream defnitons when it comes to atacks on Israel.”
25 A new declaraton aims to The Forward/Elissa Bemporad (professor of history, Queens “Antsemitsm is on the rise, with powerful instgators behind it, but the struggle against March fght antsemitsm College & CUNY Graduate Center), Alon Confno (professor it is at risk of being derailed by acrimonious divisions among Jews and others over its 2021 without curtailing free of history & Jewish Studies/director of the Insttute for very meaning. The drive for adopton of a single, fxed defniton of antsemitsm has speech Holocaust, Genocide, & Memory Studies at UMass- devolved into a polemical politcal debate on Israel and Palestne with crucial free- Amherst), & Derek Penslar (professor of Jewish history at speech implicatons. Today we introduce the Jerusalem Declaraton on Antsemitsm, Harvard University). All 3 are among the 200 signatories to which was crafed by a group of scholars from the United States, Israel, Europe and the the Jerusalem Declaraton on Antsemitsm. U.K, afer more than a year of intense discussion and study. The declaraton has been endorsed by 200 eminent scholars with a wide spectrum of politcal views. All of us agree on the need for a guide to efectvely combat antsemitsm that protects space for an open debate around all possibilites around the future for Israelis and Palestnians.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 10 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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25 Jerusalem Declaraton on 200+ internatonal scholars working in Antsemitsm Studies “The IHRA Defniton includes 11 “examples” of antsemitsm, 7 of which focus on the March Antsemitsm and related felds, including Jewish, Holocaust, Israel, State of Israel. While this puts undue emphasis on one arena, there is a widely-felt need 2021 Palestne, and Middle East Studies. for clarity on the limits of legitmate politcal speech and acton concerning Zionism, Israel, and Palestne. Our aim is twofold: (1) to strengthen the fght against antsemitsm by clarifying what it is and how it is manifested, (2) to protect a space for an open debate about the vexed queston of the future of Israel/Palestne. We do not all share the same politcal views and we are not seeking to promote a partsan politcal agenda. Determining that a controversial view or acton is not antsemitc implies neither that we endorse it nor that we do not.”
24 Mar Critcizing a country’s Responsible Statecraf/Paul Pillar “American Jews are not responsible for the policies and practces of the State of Israel. 2021 policies is not bigotry In fact, the prevailing sentments among American Jews have increasingly diverged from those of the Israeli Jews who elect that state’s government. American Jews are actually less inclined to condone the Israeli government’s actons than are members of certain other religious groups in the United States. Right-thinking Americans who understand these realites ought to feel free to discuss frankly what the Israeli government does without any implicatons about attudes toward their Jewish compatriots.”
Also: “For Americans, any disproportonate scrutny of Israeli behavior is both understandable and appropriate given the extraordinary nature of the U.S. relatonship with Israel. If American observers critcize human rights violatons by Israel more ofen than, say, human rights violatons by Tanzania, that is partly because Tanzania does not receive $3.8 billion annually in U.S. aid and politcal cover in the form of U.S. vetoes in the United Natons Security Council. Moreover, Israel has intentonally created a situaton in the occupied territories that is sui generis, not subject to evaluaton that can be wholly applied elsewhere, and that enables Israel to apply its own form of double standard. No other state has kept its boundaries undefned in the way Israel has. This enables Israel to treat territory as its own for some purposes (such as building setlements and applying Israeli law) and not its own for other purposes (such as disavowing any responsibility for vaccinatng Palestnian Arab residents for COVID-19).”
23 Mar Jewish Faculty in Canada 140 prominent Jewish scholars from across Canada [per “We are specifcally concerned with recent lobbying on our campuses for the adopton 2021 Against the Adopton of @FacultyJewish tweet] of the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working defniton of the IHRA Working antsemitsm…Not only does it essentalize Jewish identty, culture, and theology, it also Defniton of equates Jewishness and Judaism with the State of Israel – efectvely erasing Antsemitsm generatons of debate within Jewish communites. The issue is partcularly pressing as the IHRA working defniton has been invoked by those seeking to interfere with collegial governance and student life at Canadian universites. The IHRA working defniton distracts from experiences of ant-Jewish racism, and threatens to silence legitmate critcism of Israel’s grave violatons of internatonal law and denial of Palestnian human and politcal rights. On campuses where this defniton has been adopted it has been used to intmidate and silence the work of unions, student groups, academic departments and faculty associatons that are commited to freedom, equality and justce for Palestnians.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 11 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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17 Mar US Jewish scholars push JTA/Ron Kampeas “'Paying disproportonate atenton to Israel and treatng Israel diferently than other 2021 ant-Semitsm defniton Text of the Nexus Document countries is not prima facie proof of ant-Semitsm,” the Nexus defniton says. “There allowing more Israel are numerous reasons for devotng special atenton to Israel and treatng Israel critcism diferently, e.g., some people care about Israel more; others may pay more atenton because Israel has a special relatonship with the United States and receives $4 billion in American aid.’”
1 Mar European Commission 11.11.11 (Belgian NGO platorm) “On 7 January 2021, the European Commission released a "Handbook for the practcal 2021 "Handbook" entrenches use of the IHRA Working Defniton of Antsemitsm". This Handbook entrenches the controversial IHRA controversial IHRA defniton across many policy areas and facilitates the politcal defniton of antsemitsm instrumentalizaton of the fght against antsemitsm.”
1 Mar UCL board’s IHRA Times of Israel (Blogs)/UCL students leter signed by Daniel “The UCL board’s recommendaton should not be understood as a threat – rather it is 202 decision is an Lubin, Francesca Kurlansky, Manya Eversley, Charley Katan, an opportunity. Some Jewish students have acknowledged the defniton’s imperfectons opportunity, not a threat & Jake Cohen. but regreted that there is no alternatve. Now is the tme for our community to seek a new framework that not only actually protects Jews but does so without compromising other marginalised groups and free speech. As antsemitsm increases we should not setle for a faulty safeguard. We can and must do beter than the IHRA.”
21 Feb U.S. Jewish Groups Want Haaretz/Danielle Ziri “Leading Holocaust scholar Prof. Deborah Lipstadt agrees that if you look at the IHRA 2021 to Fight Antsemitsm, but defniton, ‘you won’t fnd right-wing antsemitsm there: you won’t fnd Pitsburgh Struggle to Agree What It there; you won’t fnd Poway there; you won’t fnd Halle, Germany, there; you won’t fnd Is what we saw from some of the groups on January 6 at the Capitol there.’ But for her, she told Haaretz in a Zoom interview last week, the big queston is about how the defniton is applied. ‘If I call someone an antsemite, it should have the stng of a thousand cuts,’ she said. ‘It should never be used lightly, it should never be used frivolously.’”
20 Feb The confict over the Times of Israel (Blogs)/Steve Shefey, “Pro-Israel writer and “When we treat campus debates about Israel as if the outcome of a campus dispute will 2021 confict actvist” materially afect Israel, when we act as if the passage of a non-binding BDS resoluton will make even a ripple of diference in the real world, we sell our kids short. These are the hard debates about important ideas that our kids should be having in college. That’s how they learn to think, how to handle hard conversatons, and how to reassess their own beliefs. By forfeitng on their behalf opportunites for them to learn how to think– or worse, by atemptng to suppress speech we don’t want to hear, which is the antthesis of what the First Amendment and our Jewish traditon at its best stands for– we cannot hope to win in the marketplace of ideas because we aren’t teaching our kids how to compete in that marketplace. And that’s a shanda.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 12 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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18 Feb CJPME to Facebook and CJPME “CJPME opposes the IHRA working defniton of antsemitsm, and partcularly its 2021 Twiter: Don't Adopt IHRA illustratve examples, of which 7 out of 11 menton critcism of Israel or Zionism. Taken together, we and our supporters are concerned that the defniton and its examples, if adopted by Facebook, will be used to stfe free speech and actvism related to Israel and Palestne. Our concerns about IHRA are shared by the Canadian Labour Congress, the Canadian Federaton of Students, the BC Civil Libertes Associaton, more than 550 academics, and many other civil society groups. CJPME believes that the IHRA defniton is far too ambiguous to be useful for determining instances of antsemitsm. Instead, it is ofen incorrectly applied in a way that silences Palestnians and other critcs of Israel.”
12 Feb UCL board rejects IHRA The Guardian/Rachel Hall “University College London’s governing body will reconsider its defniton of 2021 defniton of antsemitsm UCL statement [“…Following a thoughtul debate this week antsemitsm afer an internal academic board rejected the use of the Internatonal which universally reafrmed this commitment to tackling Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s defniton, which the university had adopted. The ant-semitsm, a meetng of UCL’s Academic Board voted to revolt by senior academics at the London university is the latest incident in an emerging make an advisory recommendaton to Council to fnd an tussle with the government and the educaton secretary, Gavin Williamson, who last alternatve defniton to the IHRA. Council will now consider year threatened sanctons against universites that failed to adopt the IHRA defniton. this recommendaton and will contnue to consult and listen The vote by UCL’s academic board calls on the university to ‘retract and replace IHRA to the views of the entre UCL community on this and other working defniton with a more precise defniton of antsemitsm’.” issues.”] Also: UCL academic board urges university to 'replace' IHRA antsemitsm defniton (Middle East Eye); UCL’s Academic Board fnds the IHRA defniton of antsemitsm not ft for purpose (Palestne Solidarity Campaign)
11 Feb The IHRA defniton of Times of Israel (Blogs)/Moriah Richman (FSU Student/J St U) “For Jewish students across the USA, the campaign to codify the IHRA and use it to 2021 ant-Semitsm derails our suppress speech on campus comes at a partcularly unhelpful moment. In our work to fght against it on campus fght ant-Semitsm and injustce on campus, our focus is on trying to build bridges with communites across the spectrum of campus life, underscoring our common cause in fghtng against ant-Semitsm, Islamophobia and systemic racial injustce. If the IHRA defniton is codifed natonally, we fear that right-wing advocacy groups will do as they have done on our campuses — distract from real ant-Semitsm by turning it into a politcal football, and working to silence all manner of progressive Jewish and Palestnian rights groups to further their politcal agenda.”
11 Feb Facebook might censor The Guardian/Rabbi Alissa Wise (JVP) “It’s imperatve that we dismantle antsemitsm in all its manifestatons, but confatng 2021 critcism of Zionists. Zionism with the Jewish people only entrenches it. Facebook should not allow That’s dangerous governments to blur the lines between hate speech and politcal speech, and it must prioritze revisitng existng policies that disproportonately censor Palestnians and other marginalized voices postng about their experiences of racism and state violence. We must all be able to talk about our lives and the issues that are most important to us, while never losing sight of the fact that Palestnians and Jews deserve safety wherever we are.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 13 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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10 Feb The IHRA defniton The Jewish Chronicle (UK)/Lord Mann “The Jewish community has never been afraid of democratc debate, indeed the 2021 should not be used to community seems to relish it. Students, including Jewish students, are enttled to be ban free speech - and discomforted and challenged by diferent ideas and perspectves and this is an essental that includes Ken Loach part of university life. The IHRA defniton of antsemitsm does not and should not be used to restrict academic freedom of speech or of research. I welcome universites being unequivocal in their protecton of all academic freedoms to teach, to research, and to cooperate with other academics and insttutons. Any barrier to this undermines the Britsh concept of democracy and liberty.”
10 Feb We disagree about the Times of Israel/Ken Stern “The queston of the authorship is a sideshow. But my role as lead drafer has, 2021 Working Defniton. That’s unquestonably, given me a platorm to address the intended uses and troubling abuses, OK. Here’s what’s not. especially the weaponizaton of the defniton against politcal speech. I contnue to believe the defniton has appropriate applicatons for data collecton, for giving guidance on hate crimes (because it says you don’t have to analyze whether someone really hated Jews, but rather if they intentonally selected a Jewish target, including in response to an event in Israel), and for diplomatc purposes, like when the leader of a country calls for wiping Israel of the map. I disagree with my former colleagues, in partcular about how the defniton should be used on campus. We also apparently disagree about it being employed to suppress politcal speech outside the campus, for instance via laws requiring those who contract with state governments sign a new-day loyalty oath that they are against boycotng Israel, or as former Secretary of State Pompeo proposed, as a basis for declaring certain human rights groups like Amnesty Internatonal and Human Rights Watch ant-Semitc and threatening their funding. I remain most concerned that strong proponents of the campus applicaton of the defniton, like the Simon Wiesenthal Center, applaud when politcal speech is censored, and that others – including mainstream Jewish organizatons and former colleagues – remain silent, apparently not seeing a problem.”
9 Feb Imposing an antsemitsm Times Higher Educaton/Hagit Borer, professor of linguistcs "Fightng antsemitsm is a must, but the IHRA document undermines that fght, 2021 defniton on academics and head of department at Queen Mary University of threatening free speech and academic freedom, while consttutng an atack on the undermines freedom London (originally published here). Palestnian right to self-determinaton and on the struggle to democratse Israel. In the unfolding debate, my voice as an academic and an Israeli dissident deserves to be heard. I do not stand alone; more than 60 Israelis in UK academia have recently writen an open leter to our vice-chancellors and academic senates, urging them to reject the IHRA working defniton.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 14 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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9 Feb Jewish Council on Urban Jewish Council on Urban Afairs “As a Jewish organizaton dedicated to social justce, we are deeply commited to the 2021 Afairs opposes fght against antsemitsm. We believe that adoptng the Internatonal Holocaust government use of IHRA Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) Working Defniton of Antsemitsm at the city or state defniton of antsemitsm level is not an efectve strategy to fght antsemitsm as it exists today. JCUA joins Jewish organizatons such as the Union for Reform Judaism and Bend the Arc in expressing concern that politcizing the defniton of antsemitsm could be used to criminalize free speech rather than protect Jewish safety. Legal tools to prosecute hate crimes against Jewish people already exist. In our work on economic, racial, and immigraton justce throughout Chicago, we have learned that additonal criminalizaton does not make our communites safer.”
9 Feb Britsh universites must Middle East Eye/Jamie Stern-Weiner “Pro-Israel campaigners have themselves dismissed the actual two-sentence defniton 2021 stand frm against as “very generalist and vague” (Campaign Against Antsemitsm) or even “totally government's neutered … [and] unmoored from any current reality” (Simon Wiesenthal Center). But it 'antsemitsm' ultmatum can stll serve as an inofensive cover under which to smuggle spurious examples of antsemitsm that stgmatse any critcism of Israel. If there were any doubt on this score, here’s what a senior ofcial at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Afairs said: “The IHRA defniton is in itself a minimalist defniton. What turns it into an essental defniton in our eyes is the list of examples.” One leading pro-Israel organisaton went so far as to insist that “essentally the defniton is the examples”. In practce, pro-Israel advocacy groups have wielded this defniton of antsemitsm with “the subtlety of a mallet” - I am quotng one of its authors - to stfe speech on campuses."
6 Feb Codifying IHRA’s Jerusalem Post/Nadav Tamir "If oppositon to or critcism of Zionism is antsemitc, then a signifcant part of the 2021 defniton of antsemitsm Jewish people in the past was antsemitc, including organizatons that today are as law is harmful - supporters of the State of Israel and fghters against antsemitsm. The two ends of the opinion spectrum in the Jewish religious movements – the ultra-Orthodox on the one hand and the Reform movement on the other – also opposed Zionism, and it would be ridiculous to say that they were antsemitc. There are also many who oppose natonalism of any kind, including Zionism. There are many Jews in the BDS movement, and falsely portraying them as antsemitc or ‘self-hatng Jews’ harms both the fght against antsemitsm and the fght against BDS, which should be based in legitmate, substantve critque and not on exaggerated smears. Accusing critcs of Israel and Zionism of antsemitsm pushes many who resent the manipulatve use of Jewish victmhood to avoid a principled debate on their claims into the arms of BDS.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 15 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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4 Feb Facebook's Latest Electronic Fronter Foundaton (EFF)/Jillian C. York and David “According to reports, the company is under pressure to adopt the Internatonal 2021 Proposed Policy Change Greene Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working defniton of ant-semitsm, which Exemplifes the Trouble functonally encompasses harsh critcism of Israel within it. This defniton has been With Moderatng Speech critcized by others in the Jewish community. A group of 55 scholars of ant-semitsm, at Scale Jewish history and the Israeli-Palestnian confict called it ‘highly problematc and controversial’. A US-based group called Jewish Voice for Peace, working in collaboraton with a number of Jewish, Palestnian, and Muslim groups, has launched a campaign to urge Facebook not to include ‘Zionist’ as a protected category to their hate speech policy. While there is no denying that ‘Zionist’ can be used as a proxy for ‘Jewish’ in ways that are ant-semitc, the term’s myriad uses make it a prime example of what makes moderaton at scale an impossible endeavor.”
4 Feb We 66 Britsh academics Vasht Media (UK) “UK universites must remain frm in their commitment to academic freedom and 2021 and Israeli citzens reject (Artcle about the leter is here) freedom of speech, and to the fght against all forms of racism, including antsemitsm. the government’s The fawed IHRA defniton does a disservice to both of these goals. We therefore call on impositon of the IHRA academic senates in England to reject the governmental decree to adopt it or, where adopted already, to revoke it.”
4 Feb How should US ant- New Statesman/Emily Tamkin “The issue before Jewish groups of whether or not to adopt this defniton – and, 2021 Semitsm be defned in critcally, whether to push to have this partcular defniton further inform US policy – is the Biden era? one of debate in the American Jewish community and across the American Jewish insttutonal spectrum. It’s a debate about free speech, about power and about who gets to speak for American Jews.”
4 Feb Artsts like me are being The Guardian/Brian Eno "Recently, an exhibiton of my artwork was cancelled in its early stages because I 2021 censored in Germany – support the nonviolent, Palestnian-led Boycot, Divestment and Sanctons (BDS) because we support movement. The cancellaton was never publicly declared, but I understand it to have Palestnian rights been the consequence of cultural workers in Germany fearing that they and their insttuton would be punished for promotng someone labelled as ‘antsemitc’. This is the work of tyranny: create a situaton where people are frightened enough to keep their mouths shut, and self-censorship will do the rest… We should all be alarmed by this new McCarthyism. Artsts, like all citzens, must be free to speak out and take meaningful acton, including principled boycots, against systems of injustce. If lef unchallenged, the silencing of dissent and the marginalisaton of minority groups will not stop with Palestnians and those who support them.”
03 Feb Quick Facts: The IHRA Insttute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) “It confates legitmate critcism of Israel with ant-Semitsm…It confates ant-Zionism 2021 Working Defniton of with ant-Semitsm…It threatens freedom of speech & academic freedom” Ant-Semitsm
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 16 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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31 Jan Facebook is getng pulled The Verge/Russell Brandom “On November 10th, a Facebook employee sent out an unusual email to an unknown 2021 into a fght about the outside party, hoping to arrange a conversaton about how the platorm moderated politcs of Israel against ant-Semitsm. ‘We are looking at the queston of how we should interpret atacks on ‘Zionists,’’ reads the leter, whose recipient was redacted, 'to determine whether the term is a proxy for atacking Jewish or Israeli people.’ That strange but seemingly innocuous email has set of a frestorm in certain corners of the lef. Since Tuesday, actvists have been circulatng a petton calling on the platorm to halt any potental changes to the way Facebook moderates the word ‘Zionist.’ Both sides agree the term is ofen used as part of racist rhetoric that is accurately described as hate speech and should be removed. At the same tme, the term is also used by Jewish critcs of specifc Israeli policies, partcularly the country’s setlement policy. Classifying the term as hate speech would end up stfing those critcisms — at least on Facebook.”
31 Jan How the IHRA defniton Canadian Dimension/Fitsum Areguy "Greg Bird, a Wilfrid Laurier University professor, said that the IHRA defniton is 2021 of ant-Semitsm is designed to limit the scope of such critcism of Israel. Light critcism is allowed, but shielding Israel nothing that addresses Israel’s foundatonal structures, ethno-natonalist ideologies, from critcism and larger setler colonial project. Bird is one of over 450 Canadian academics who signed a leter to oppose the IHRA defniton of ant-Semitsm. He also noted that the short defniton lacks an ant-racist and decolonial framework…”
29 Jan New chair of equalites Jewish News/Times of Israel (UK) “The new chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has said that she is 2021 watchdog is against call against the call for universites to sign up to the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance for unis to adopt IHRA Alliance (IHRA) working defniton of antsemitsm. Speaking in a personal capacity during a House of Lords debate around antsemitsm on campus, Baroness Falkner said: ‘I am afraid that I do not support the call for an IHRA defniton.’ She said it was ‘xtremely poorly worded and probably unactonable in law,’ adding that it ‘directly conficts with the duty on universites to protect free speech’.”
28 Jan BRISMES Statement Britsh Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) “Founded in 1973, BRISMES aims to encourage and promote the study of the Middle 2021 Regarding the IHRA East region, and to provide a forum for educators and researchers working in Middle Working Defniton of East Studies. As part of our remit, we are commited to supportng academic freedom, Antsemitsm partcularly in relaton to issues involving discussions of the region. It is precisely within this context that as experts on the region we have studied and analysed the IHRA defniton and consulted widely. While we welcome steps to root out antsemitsm and all forms of racism from university campuses, we have come to the conclusion that this partcular defniton risks confatng critcism of Israel with antsemitsm and will have a detrimental impact on researchers and students. It is especially telling that of the eleven illustratve examples the defniton relies upon, seven relate to Israel.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 17 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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26 Jan Thirty-nine words about The Forward/Arno Rosenfeld “There’s a storm brewing in the American Jewish community over a defniton of 2021 antsemitsm are splitng antsemitsm that appears, upon frst glance, quite banal. ‘Antsemitsm,’ it reads in part, the Jewish community ‘is a certain percepton of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.’ But the language, adopted by the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2016, comes packaged with a host of examples that describe various critcism of Israel as antsemitc. As much of the Jewish establishment makes federal adopton of the IHRA defniton a top priority for the Biden administraton, it has become a proxy for a wider rif in the Jewish community over the politcizaton of antsemitsm.”
26 Jan RFA Executve Moton On Ryerson Faculty Associaton (RFA) “BIRT, The Ryerson Faculty Associaton unequivocally supports the academic freedom of 2021 Ant-Semitsm and the its members. This freedom includes the right to pursue research and open inquiry in an IHRA honest search for knowledge that is free from insttutonal censorship, including that of the government. While the RFA opposes antsemitsm and all forms of racism and hatred, the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s Working Defniton of Antsemitsm poses a serious threat to academic freedom in our university. The IHRA defniton of antsemitsm misconstrues antsemitsm to include a broad range of critcism of the State of Israel. The IHRA defniton thus undermines important ant- racist and decolonial initatves in Canadian educatonal insttutons. It can also be used to censor politcal speech and restrict the academic freedom of teachers and researchers who have developed critcal perspectves on the policies and practces of the State of Israel. Such targeted atacks will have a chilling efect on the academic freedom of our members in the classroom, in their research, and in campus politcs more broadly.”
25 Jan Bend the Arc opposes Bend the Arc “‘As an organizaton commited to dismantling antsemitsm, we don’t believe this 2021 government use of IHRA approach to defning antsemitsm is what will actually build safety for the Jewish defniton of antsemitsm community,’ said Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc: Jewish Acton. ‘We know that to confront the increase in antsemitc violence we need to confront those responsible for using antsemitsm to manufacture fear and division, not legalize defnitons that serve as diversions from the threats we face. We need a mult-pronged approach that uses the existng tools of government as well as structural reforms that ensure a thriving and inclusive democracy where every single one of us is safe, no mater our race, class, or faith. That’s why we’ve made recommendatons to the Departments of Justce and Homeland Security to address white natonalist infltraton of law enforcement and update old, disproven theories of radicalizaton, and calling on Congress to pass laws that strengthen the inclusive nature of our democracy, which will ultmately build safety for our entre community.’”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 18 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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25 Jan Reform Jewish Union of Reform Judaism - the Union for Reform Judaism, The groups “endorse the use of the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance 2021 Insttutons Afrm IHRA Central Conference of American Rabbis, Women of Reform "Working Defniton of Antsemitsm" (IHRA) as a tool for monitoring and raising Working Defniton of Judaism, and ARZA: Associaton of Reform Zionists of awareness” but “we share concerns expressed by other supporters, both in the Jewish Antsemitsm [as America community and in broader civil society, that the examples appended to the defniton educaton tool, NOT to be were drafed in a tme and context diferent from the one before us today and can codifed into law] obscure even as they strive to illuminate. The examples seek primarily to clarify when Jews are targeted for harassment because of their real or actual connecton to Israel or Zionism. A stated commitment to Israel’s well-being does not preclude antsemitc attudes. At the same tme, questoning Israeli government policies does not automatcally denote one’s views as antsemitc. “ and “several of the defniton’s examples involve protected speech. Our commitment to principles of free speech and concerns about the potental abuse of the defniton compel us to urge its use only as intended: as a guide and an awareness raising tool. The defniton should not be codifed into policy that would trigger potentally problematc punitve acton to circumscribe speech, eforts which have been partcularly aimed at college students and human rights actvists. If the efect of applicaton of the IHRA defniton is to limit free speech, it threatens to divide the broad coaliton needed to combat antsemitsm.”
25 Jan B’Tselem, apartheid, and Writng From the Edge/Robert A. H. Cohen “Meanwhile, where does this leave the formal leadership of the Jewish community and 2021 correctng the ethical its disastrous love-afair with the IHRA defniton of antsemitsm? It’s already a grammar on Israel/ document which creates confict and suppresses free speech. But what happens when Palestne[ an Israeli NGO has efectvely described the State of Israel as a racist endeavor? The new language of truth and moral clarity should tell us to feed the IHRA document through the shredder.”
24 Jan Ant-Semitsm and Israel: salon.com/Doug Neiss “Seven of the 11 illustratve examples listed are likewise unobjectonable, but the other 2021 Right-wing Zionists play a four are troubling. They all relate to Israel and raise the queston of whether deadly word game promulgatng a new defniton of ant-Semitsm is a valid undertaking if the purpose is to shield Israel from critcism as no other naton is shielded. Making Israel prominent in a defniton of ant-Semitsm also raises the queston of the relatonship between the Jewish state and the Jewish people. Clearly, they are not identcal, whatever impression Zionists may want to give. For one thing, a good deal of the critcism of Israel and its policies the defniton seeks to proscribe comes from diaspora Jews, on and of campus. Israel's watchdogs can call these Jews self-hatng and exclude them in their own minds from the Jewish people, but they stll feel a need to muzzle them and other critcs. In efect, the IHRA defniton privileges hardline Jewish Zionists over other Jews.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 19 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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20 Jan Smearing, Silencing and Obiter (Osgoode Hall Law School “The fght against antsemitsm, like the batles against all forms of discriminaton and 2021 Antsemitsm Campus Newspaper)/Faisal Bhabha hate, is important and deserves public atenton. The IHRA defniton, and the aggressive campaigning of pro-Israel groups like B’nai Brith, do nothing to protect Jews from discriminaton. Instead, they promote racism, denigrate Palestnians and smear their supporters. Arguing against a smear is not fair or easy. The threat of censorship that a smear produces is real. It drives up the cost of expression; it can make certain types of expression prohibitve. Smears seek only to silence and punish. This is a threat to everybody who cares about freedom, not just the smeared. Sadly, the climate is only worsening and those in power seldom have the will or courage to denounce false accusatons of antsemitsm. To counter this trend, it is more important than ever for individuals of conscience to stand up for freedom of expression rights, partcularly of marginalized voices and especially in the university setng.”
19 Jan Stellungnahme zum EU- Opinion on the EU manual on the applicaton of the IHRA (Translated from German) “…this handbook makes the shortcomings of the IHRA 2021 Handbuch zur working defniton of ant-Semitsm - Statement by the defniton and its examples even more of a practcal benchmark for combatng ant- Anwendung der IHRA- Jewish Voice for Just Peace in the Middle East to the EU Semitsm. Even the main author of the defniton, Kenneth Stern, has spoken out against Arbeitsdefniton des manual on the applicaton of the IHRA working defniton of its use as a means to suppress freedom of expression, as it is increasingly used to Antsemitsmus ant-Semitsm silence actvists supportng Palestne Solidarity and to limit their scope of acton as much as possible. How is that supposed to help fght ant-Semitsm? It is not in the interests of Jews that the actual meaning of ant-Semitsm as hostlity and discriminaton should be concealed by being mixed up with factual, critcal arguments, and that human rights actvists - including many Jews - should be defamed as ant- Semitc. Instead of repeatedly standing behind the Israeli occupaton and the oppression of the Palestnians, the EU should rather follow its supposed principles, which are based on internatonal law and human rights!”
17 Jan How Israel Is Harming the Haaretz/Noa Landau “The Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is an internatonal project that 2021 War on Antsemitsm seeks to defne what antsemitsm is for countries and organizatons worldwide in order to help them fght it, legally and educatonally. On the face of it, this is a worthy goal. But the defniton IHRA adopted in 2016 has become the subject of a ferce politcal controversy, with the Israeli government orchestratng and intensifying the drama.”
15 Jan Handbook for academics - Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) — Canada/NOIHRA (landing “If adopted, the IHRA defniton will place Canadian academics, especially those 2021 The IHRA Defniton of page is here); by By: Academic Alliance Against conductng ant-racist and decolonial scholarship, at great risk of being falsely accused Antsemitsm & Canadian Antsemitsm, Racism, Colonialism & Censorship in Canada of being antsemitc, which could result in intmidaton, censorship, job precarity, and Universites/Colleges - (ARC) costly litgaton.” What you need to know
12 Jan New Israel Fund [Canada] Canadian Jewish News “the New Israel Fund of Canada (NIFC) has withdrawn its support because it, like other 2021 changes course on IHRA progressive groups, says there is “worrying” evidence that the IHRA defniton will be defniton used to suppress free speech by equatng any critcism of Israel with ant-Semitsm.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 20 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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12 Jan Progressive Israel Progressive Israel Network (Ameinu, Americans for Peace “As organizatons that care deeply about the State of Israel and about the wellbeing of 2021 Network Groups Oppose Now, Habonim Dror North America, Jewish Labor the Jewish people, we are deeply commited to the struggle against antsemitsm. We Codifcaton of IHRA Commitee, J Street, Hashomer Hatzair, Reconstructng are thus obligated to share our concerns about ways in which the efort to combat Working Defniton of Judaism, Partners for Progressive Israel, the New Israel antsemitsm is being misused and exploited to instead suppress legitmate free speech, Antsemitsm, Citng Fund, and T’ruah) critcism of Israeli government actons, and advocacy for Palestnian rights. In partcular, Strong Potental for Also see: Lef-wing Jewish Alliance Calls on Biden to Reject the efort to enshrine in domestc law and insttutonal policy the Internatonal Misuse Antsemitsm Defniton That Includes ant-Zionism Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Defniton of Antsemitsm, with its (Haaretz); Progressive Jewish groups oppose codifcaton of accompanying “contemporary examples,” risks wrongly equatng what may be IHRA antsemitsm defniton (JPost); Lef-Wing Jewish legitmate actvites with antsemitsm. This efort has created opportunites for abuse Groups’ Rejecton of Holocaust Alliance Antsemitsm and politcizaton by the outgoing Trump administraton and others, undermining the Defniton Meets Critcism (Algemeiner) moral clarity of the efort to dismantle antsemitsm.” Jerusalem Post: Progressive Jewish groups oppose codifcaton of IHRA antsemitsm defniton Twiter threads/statements: New Israel Fund, Truah (and here), APN, Partners for a Progressive Israel, J Street,
12 Jan IHRA defniton of ant- Morning Star (UK)/Bethany Reilly “A controversial defniton of ant-semitsm is ‘not ft for purpose within a university 2021 semitsm is ‘not ft for setng’ and cannot be legally enforced, a major report by a group of UCL academics has purpose’ at universites, concluded. Universites have come under increasing pressure from Educaton Secretary academics conclude Gavin Williamson to adopt the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) defniton of ant-Jewish prejudice. However, the report published today says that the defniton is “not ft within a university setng” and is a weak tool for university acton against ant-semitc harassment.”
11 Jan Israeli-Britsh Academics Open leter signed by 63 Israel-Britsh Academics, to Vice “Fightng antsemitsm in all its forms is an absolute must. Yet, the IHRA document is 2021 Call to reject the IHRA's Chancellors, Members of Academic Senates, all other UK inherently fawed in ways that undermine this fght. In additon, it threatens free speech 'working defniton of Academics and Students & Rt Hon Gavin Williamson CBE MP and academic freedom, and consttutes an atack both on the Palestnian right to self- antsemitsm' Secretary of State for Educaton determinaton and the struggle to democratse Israel.”
11 Jan Imposing IHRA defniton Times of Israel/Geofrey Alderman “So where does that leave the IHRA defniton? Even its cheerleaders agree that it was 2011 risks increasing ant- never intended to be used as a legally enforceable instrument, to be forced down the Jewish sentment throats of unwilling and cynical academicians – a process that is bound to increase ant- Jewish sentment.”
11 Jan Israel’s Leaders Are Trying Jacobin Magazine/Bashir Abu-Manneh (University of Kent) "The Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) “working defniton of ant- 2021 to Cancel the Debate Semitsm” has become a hot politcal topic, from Britain to the United States. Though Because They Know the IHRA’s Commitee on Antsemitsm and Holocaust Denial has described it as “non- They’re Losing legally binding,” the working defniton is being used by governments, civil society groups, and politcal insttutons as part of a concerted efort to suppress critcism of Israel.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 21 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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8 Jan Universites can be Times of Israel/Matan Rosenstrauch (SOAS student) “Their aim is to protect Israel from being critcized publicly, and the IHRA defniton is a 2021 challenging places for fantastc tool for them to implement that. This is typical of what Yair Wallach (Senior Jews but they don’t need Lecturer in Israeli Studies at SOAS) calls an “Israel-centred” understanding of IHRA antsemtsm, one that privileges the protecton of the Jewish state. According to this right wing interpretaton, the best way to fght antsemitsm is not to struggle for civic equality for all minorites, but rather to defend Israel – even when Israel becomes less and less democratc. The IHRA is not used to protect pro-israeli freedom of expression, but to shut any critcal discussion on Israel, labeling those who dare to speak too much about Israel antsemitc.”
7 Jan Antsemitsm defniton is The Guardian - Lawyers and retred judges argue that the “The IHRA added to the defniton illustratve examples of statements that could be 2021 undermining free speech IHRA working defniton undermines freedom of expression, antsemitc “taking into account the overall context”. The majority of these examples do and Gavin Williamson is wrong to forcefully impose it on not refer to Jews as such, but to Israel. They have been widely used to suppress or avoid universites critcism of the state of Israel. The impact on public discourse both inside and outside universites has already been signifcant.” Also see: Williamson wrong to force universites to abide by antsemitsm defniton, say lawyers; Legally and morally wrong’ to force unis to accept IHRA, lawyers say in leter
31 Dec Yes, the IHRA defniton of Canadian Dimension/Michael Bueckert - Vice President of “Plainly, the biggest supporters of the IHRA defniton of ant-Semitsm see it as a vehicle 2020 ant-Semitsm is intended Canadians for Justce and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME); for shutng down politcal expression about Israel, and want to apply it to various to censor PhD in Sociology and Politcal Economy from Carleton actvites, including ant-Zionist scholarship, a student boycot of Israel, or even a vote to politcal expression University. support Palestnians at the United Natons. In the eyes of pro-Israel advocacy groups, everything they don’t like can be said to violate the IHRA defniton. This is not a hypothetcal threat to free speech, but a very real and tangible one…If the IHRA defniton is indeed enforced in a way that silences critcs of Israel, this will not be ‘distorton,’ a ‘misapplicaton,’ or even a ‘weaponizaton’ of the defniton—it will be the defniton’s intended outcome, the very thing it was built to do.”
29 Dec Government adviser Lord The Jewish Chronicle (UK)/f comments from David "Describing IHRA as a ‘feeble and outdated approach’, Professor Feldman said it posed 2020 Mann and antsemitsm Feldman, director of the Pears Insttute for the Study of ‘a danger’, because of the way ‘its supporters cannot agree on what it says.’ He charged expert David Feldman Antsemitsm at Birkbeck College, London ‘advocacy groups’ — singling out the Simon Wiesenthal Centre — with using the clash over IHRA defniton defniton as ‘a tool to stfe free speech’ and said it was ‘a threat to legitmate protest’.” Also see: Two leading antsemitsm experts clash during fery Limmud debate
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 22 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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28 Dec In Canada, the IHRA +972 Magazine/By Mohammad Fadel and Shireen Salt “Under this working defniton, legitmate critques of Israel and its policies, such as 2020 defniton has begun to “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” may be condemned stfe pro-Palestnian as antsemitc. Many critcs have rightly warned that these provisions threaten the free voices speech rights of Canadians and will likely be used to silence critcism of Israel…The IHRA’s defniton, unfortunately, atempts to obfuscate facts that are abundantly clear to those who know the realites on the ground. Israel has always been racially discriminatory toward indigenous Palestnians, including those who are citzens, who comprise about 20 percent of its populaton. But the state has become even more racist and intolerant in recent years.”
23 Dec The IHRA censors Vasht Media/Ben White “As the above evidence demonstrates (and it is by no means comprehensive), the WDA 2020 Palestnians by design, is undeniably being used to silence and smear Palestnians and their allies. Furthermore, not by accident given the stated views of the key individuals behind the WDA [Working Defniton of Antsemitsm], it is simply not credible to suggest that such actvites consttute a ‘misuse’ of the defniton. As these facts become more widely known and understood, the kind of pushback against the WDA already seen from various quarters is – and should be – only set to grow.”
18 Dec Israel is using the IHRA to Vasht/Jonathan Shamir (Haaretz) “Many debates surrounding the IHRA — its precise legal and operatonal reach, the 2020 silence its critcs relatonship between the defniton and the appended examples, and the precise contours between antsemitsm and ant-Zionism — quickly fade into insignifcance when compared with the way it has been implemented by Israel and its allies abroad. While leading legal scholars have cast doubt on the IHRA’s basis in law, a report by Tel Aviv-based Internatonal Legal Forum (ILF) see’s its efcacy as an instrument that can be wielded to ostracise those who don’t fall into line. ‘Even without legal force, IHRA allows us to properly identfy antsemitsm and antsemitc actons. Antsemitsm can then be subject to the proper response from society, which is rejecton and condemnaton’, the ILF report’s authors note.”
17 Dec Christans and Israel Planet Magazine/Mike Joseph (Welsh genocide historian) “In 2018, between the sea and the river Jordan, the number of Palestnians and Israeli 2020 Arabs reached approximately 6.5 million, equalling the number of Jews. Fify years of Jewish setlement in Palestnian land have rendered an independent Palestnian state unviable, as it was designed to do. The ‘two-state soluton’ is a fcton designed to silence critcism and distract from reality. What lies ahead is a fully apartheid state – democracy for the Jews, for the Palestnians, a reduced West Bank turned into several new Gazas, held down by Israel’s military and technological prowess; a Jewish state unconcerned at ‘becoming the Jewish people’s worst enemy’, exploitng Western guilt over the Holocaust to delegitmise Western censure and partcularly Jewish censure, a state confdent in the fervent support of the ‘useful fools’ of the Christan West: the exact scenario for which the IHRA’s sham ‘antsemitsm’ code is designed.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 23 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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16 Dec Report of the Academic University College - London “With regards to UCL Council’s 2019 adopton of the IHRA working defniton of 2020 Board Working Group on antsemitsm, the Working Group recommends that AB advise Council to retract the Racism and Prejudice Also see: UCL academics set to rescind adopton of IHRA defniton and ofer a clarifcaton of existng legal dutes with relaton to defniton of antsemitsm antsemitsm.The reasons for this recommendaton have been outlined at length in the report, but notably the IHRA working defniton is not appropriate for adjudicatng complaints of antsemitsm in a proscriptve manner. As we have examined in detail, the working defniton potentally confates statements critcal of the State of Israel with antsemitsm. By blurring these boundaries, the IHRA working defniton risks undermining academic freedom at UCL. In its uneven applicaton as a basis for complaints, it is liable to lead to allegatons that UCL is targetng vocal advocates of partcular positons on debates related to Israel and Palestne and placing undue burdens of proof on those accused of antsemitsm. As a proscriptve tool, the IHRA working defniton creates a rif between various groups on campus that is not helpful for communal cohesion at UCL. Without legal force it will remain a distracton from its stated educatonal purpose, namely to challenge antsemitsm however expressed.”
15 Dec How to fght antsemitsm University Afairs, Canada/Shannon Dea - Shannon Dea is “…most of the companion examples actually support important scholarship rather than 2020 without threatening the dean of arts and a professor of philosophy at the threatening it. The difculty comes in with the third example: ‘Denying the Jewish academic freedom University of Regina. people their right to self-determinaton, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.’ This example alone blocks critcal scholarship about Israel.”
10 Dec Pompeo's Atack on BDS Newsweek/Yair Wallach (SOAS) “This is the latest, and most extreme version of the ‘New Antsemitsm’ philosophy: the 2020 is About Protectng idea that oppositon to Israel is today the primary mode of antsemitsm, because the Setlements—Not Jewish State is the sovereign embodiment of the Jewish people, ‘the Jew among Defending Jews | Opinion natons.’ If Israeli rule over the West Bank is now integral to Israel's politcal model, opposing it is, by defniton, antsemitc. Israel's ethno-natonal Jewish character has to be defended, even if it means discriminaton, exclusion and oppression of Palestnians. Nothing demonstrates this more than the looming appointment of Ef Eitam, a retred right-wing general, as the director of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem. Eitam had previously called for the expulsion of most Palestnians from the West Bank, and for the disenfranchisement of Arab citzens of Israel.”
10 Dec Steering the Biden Times of Israel/Ken Stern “for the past decade, Jewish groups have used the [IHRA] defniton as a weapon to say 2020 administraton wrong on ant-Zionist expressions are inherently ant-Semitc and must be suppressed. Reasonable ant-Semitsm people can have diferent opinions about when ant-Semitsm is refected in ant- Zionism. But is this – having the government label ant-Zionism ant-Semitsm — the number one way we want to ask the new administraton to fght the problem?”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 24 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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10 Dec In Germany, a Witch Hunt Haaretz/Itay Mashiach “It is not every day that a broad and diverse spectrum of infuental members of the 2020 Is Raging Against Critcs of Text of German cultural leaders (in German & English) is German establishment come together to express a unanimous critcal positon on the Israel. Cultural Leaders here. most sensitve issue on the country’s public agenda: the batle against antsemitsm. In Have Had Enough NYT: German Cultural Leaders Warn Against Ban on Israel Germany, it consttutes no less than a cultural earthquake.” Sanctons Movement German artcle in Suddeutsche Zeitung; also see: Nothing Can Be Changed Untl It Is Faced; In Germany, cultural groups worry about confaton between BDS and antsemitsm; Antsemitsm claims mask a reign of politcal and cultural terror across Europe
10 Dec Jews Across the Globe Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) — Canada “We, Jewish groups and individuals from across the globe, applaud the recent powerful 2020 Applaud Statement by statement and set of principles signed by 122 Palestnian and Arab academics, Palestnian and Arab journalists, and intellectuals regarding the defniton of antsemitsm by the Academics, Journalists Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and the way this defniton has and Intellectuals been applied, interpreted and deployed. As the leter states so compellingly: ‘The fght against antsemitsm should not be turned into a stratagem to delegitmize the fght against the oppression of the Palestnians, the denial of their rights and the contnued occupaton of their land.’”
10 Dec Jewish Federatons Urge Jewish Currents/Mari Cohen “[Kenneth] Stern speculated that broader use of the defniton could lead to the federal 2020 Biden to Promote government curtailing its support of human rights groups or even cultural festvals Controversial Defniton based on their stance on Israel/Palestne. He said it is possible that use of the defniton of Antsemitsm could lead to litgaton on consttutonal grounds for impeding free speech or assembly.”
9 Dec Who’s against adoptng Times of Israel (Blogs)/Corey Balsam (IJV) “the IHRA defniton also has a great many detractors who sharply critcize the 2020 the IHRA antsemitsm defniton, including its accompanying list of 11 illustratve examples, and how it has defniton? been deployed to atack and discredit advocates for Palestnian human rights. As Birmingham scholar Rebecca Ruth Gould argues, the IHRA defniton is ‘one of the most contentous documents in the history of eforts to combat antsemitsm.’”
9 Dec With this fawed Middle East Eye/Sai Engler (lecturer in politcal economy of “the adopton of the IHRA defniton will do litle in the fght against antsemitsm - in 2020 antsemitsm defniton, the Middle East at Leiden University) fact, it will likely harm the ability of ant-racist campaigners to fght back efectvely - Britain is closing down while instead targetng Palestne actvists and delegitmising oppositon to Zionism.” academic freedom
Dec TITLE VI, ANTI-SEMITISM, JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY LAW (2021)/ “Whatever one’s view of the extent to which speech that is critcal of Zionism or of the 2020 AND THE PROBLEM OF Frederick Schafer (From 2000 to 2016, Mr. Schafer was State of Israel may be ant-Semitc, the more critcal problem with the Executve Order is COMPLIANCE General Counsel and Senior Vice Chancellor for Legal Afairs that the IHRA working defniton of ant-Semitsm, with its illustratons that include of the City University of New York) certain types of ant-Zionist or ant-Israel speech, when incorporated into a legally enforceable test for discriminaton, is likely to curtail or shut down debate and thereby infringe on free speech and academic freedom.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 25 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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4 Dec Yes, Palestnians have the The Forward/David Myers (teaches Jewish history at UCLA, "To stgmatze as antsemitc those who imagine Israel as a state of its citzens or who 2020 right to speak about where he directs the Luskin Center for History and Policy. He regard its policies as racist is efectvely to deny them the right to advocate for justce for antsemitsm is the president of the board of the New Israel Fund.) Palestnians. And to equate these advocates to antsemites who plot and execute murderous atacks on Jews is a dangerous defecton, as well as an injustce both to the fght against antsemitsm and to the struggle for justce for Palestnians.”
4 Dec Americans for Peace Now Haaretz - Hadar Susskind/Jim Klutznick (APN) [“U.S. Jewish “'We cannot accept the imprecise, overreaching wording of the defniton’s examples,’ 2020 Refuses to Adopt nonproft says the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance the APN leaders wrote. ‘We can’t accept it because we are witnessing how it is already ‘Weaponized’ Defniton Alliance defniton is ‘already being abused to quash being abused, indeed weaponized, to quash legitmate critcism and actvism directed at of Antsemitsm legitmate critcism and actvism directed at Israeli Israeli government policies by tarnishing individuals and organizatons as antsemitc.’ government policies’”] These examples ‘cross the line into the realm of politcs and are already being used to score politcal points in the United States, and to quash legitmate critcism of Full text of APN leter to the Conference of Presidents of deplorable Israeli government policies,’ they wrote.” Major Jewish Organizatons is here
2 Dec The government should The Guardian/David Feldman [director of the Pears Insttute “We all know how the path to hell is paved. But it is a warning worth repeatng for Gavin 2020 not impose a faulty for the Study of Antsemitsm at Birkbeck, University of Williamson. The secretary of state for educaton intends to rid universites in England of defniton of antsemitsm London] antsemitsm, but his interventon not only threatens to provoke strife and confusion – it on universites also places academic freedom and free speech on campus at risk.”
29 Nov A group of 122 The Guardian "In recent years, the fght against antsemitsm has been increasingly instrumentalised 2020 Palestnian and Arab by the Israeli government and its supporters in an efort to delegitmise the Palestnian academics, journalists cause and silence defenders of Palestnian rights. Divertng the necessary struggle and intellectuals express against antsemitsm to serve such an agenda threatens to debase this struggle and their concerns about the hence to discredit and weaken it.” IHRA defniton
28 Nov Union members call on Jerusalem Post “Union members at King's College London have called on the university to revoke its 2020 King's College to let them adopton of the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) defniton of critcize Zionism, Israel antsemitsm, claiming that its stpulaton that ant-Zionism is antsemitsm consttutes revisionist history.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 26 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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23 Nov Statement from 420+ Palestne Solidarity Campaign “As students in the UK, we are deeply concerned that the space to bring the facts of the 2020 Current UK Students on past and ongoing dispossession faced by Palestnians into the public domain, including IHRA Defniton of in UK universites, is under severe threat by the adopton of the IHRA defniton of ant- Antsemitsm Semitsm with its atached examples. We believe that the IHRA defniton is a threat to the fundamental right for Palestnians to describe their lived experience of oppression. The discredited defniton, and specifcally its illustratve examples, confates ant- Semitsm and legitmate critcism of the laws, policies and consttutonal order of the State of Israel.”
23 Nov The IHRA defniton will Al Jazeera/Mark Muhannad Ayyash - Associate Professor of “Despite the IHRA’s claim that the defniton is non-legally binding, the defniton and its 2020 not help fght ant- Sociology at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada. adopton, according to American scholar Rebecca Ruth Gould, ‘comes to functon as … a Semitsm quasi-law, in which capacity it exercises the de facto authority of the law, without having acquired legal legitmacy’. In short, the IHRA defniton seeks to make rather banal and sof critcisms of Israel acceptable (eg, policy X failed because of certain unintended consequences, a misreading of the politcal conditons, etc.) while censoring more serious and necessary critques (ie, the Palestnian critque of the colonial foundatons of the Israeli state and the need to transform them).”
18 Nov It’s Not About Canadian Jewish Record/Amos Goldberg - Holocaust “Unfortunately, this defniton – and especially the 11 examples appended to its original 2020 Antsemitsm. it’s About historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem text – help very litle, if at all, to fght antsemitsm. Rather than helping to stamp out Free Speech antsemitsm, several of these examples actually serve to curb free speech on Israel and its policies against the Palestnians, shaping the debate over Israel-Palestne in a way that practcally silences the Palestnian voice.”
18 Nov Ontario’s adopton of Passage/Dalya Al Masri - Palestnian journalist focused on “the IHRA working defniton of antsemitsm included in the OIC wrongly confates 2020 IHRA’s antsemitsm human rights advocacy. critcism of Israeli human rights abuses with antsemitsm, thereby criminalizing defniton isn’t the frst Palestnians and anyone else who dares speak against Israeli apartheid. For example, it act of its kind to target considers someone calling Israel a racist state to be antsemitc. Even Kenneth Stern, Palestnians, and it won’t the lead drafer of the IHRA defniton, said in a 2019 Guardian artcle that ‘rightwing be the last. Jewish groups’ have taken the defniton and ‘decided to weaponize it’ against pro- Palestnian advocacy.”
15 Nov Critcizing Israel is not The Conversaton/Jasmin Zine ,Greg Bird, & Sara Mathews “Globally, scholars who critcize Israel are facing an increasingly uphill batle to protect 2020 antsemitc — it’s (Wilfrid Laurier University) their academic freedom. At the heart of the issue rests the new defniton of academic freedom antsemitsm by the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Proponents of the IHRA defniton are part of what some are calling a new antsemitsm movement that seeks to label critcism of Israel as antsemitc."
15 Nov New human rights order The Conversaton/Reem Bahdi (Univ of Windsor) “I am the frst and only tenured law professor in Canada with a Palestnian background. I 2020 risks restrictng critcism can atest that confatng critcism of Israel with antsemitsm deeply afects Palestnians. of Israel The confaton silences the ability to bear witness to the Israeli government’s atrocites against Palestnians at precisely the tme when such witnessing is urgently needed.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 27 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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12 Nov Weaponizing Ant- The American Prospect/Lara Friedman - Foundaton for “Traditonally, ‘ant-Semitsm’ means hostlity and prejudice toward Jews because they 2020 Semitsm, State Middle East Peace are Jews—a scourge that has imperiled Jews throughout history, and is a source of Department Delegitmizes resurgent threats to Jews today. The IHRA defniton, in contrast, is explicitly politcized, Human Rights Groups refocusing the term to encompass not only hatred of Jews, but also hostlity toward and critcism of the modern state of Israel. For example, it labels as ant-Semitc ‘applying double standards’ to Israel or requiring of Israel ‘behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratc naton. While it notes that ‘critcism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antsemitc,’ in practce this ‘double standard’ language has paved the way for atacking virtually all critcism of Israel as prima facie ant-Semitc, based on the simplistc argument that focusing critcism on Israel, when other natons are guilty of similarly bad behavior, can only refect animus against Jews. According to this logic, it is ant-Semitc to challenge Israel’s occupaton of Palestnian lands—unless one is equally challenging occupaton anywhere. Likewise, boycotng or calling to boycot Israel or setlements to protest violatons of Palestnian rights is considered ant-Semitc—unless one is similarly boycotng every country guilty of violatng the rights of any people, anywhere. The IHRA defniton also stpulates that it is ant-Semitc to deny ‘the Jewish people their right to self-determinaton, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor’—notwithstanding the fact that other peoples, including Palestnians, are denied self-determinaton, and other natons have their existence challenged, including, for example, by Israelis who argue that the state of Jordan should be replaced with Palestne. Yet, this line has become the basis for indictng anyone who identfes as ant-Zionist, or who supports boycots of Israel or setlements, as ant-Semitc, irrespectve of their reasoning and absent evidence that their views are grounded in hostlity toward not Israel, but Jews.”
7 Nov The Saturday Debate: Is The Star [“No” positon taken by Michele Landsberg and Avi "Just like the scorpion’s, the stng of the IHRA defniton is in its tail, an appended list of 2020 the IHRA defniton the Lewis 11 examples of antsemitsm. Seven of them are focused on critcism of Israel. This right way to fght ant- points to what is really going on: pro-Israel organizatons are campaigning for the IHRA Semitsm? defniton so they can use it to shut down legitmate debate of Israel’s policies and to harass and silence critcs.”
5 Oct Tackling the IHRA Brian Klug, senior research fellow and tutor in philosophy at “Defenders of the defniton point to a sentence in the text that says: ‘However, critcism 2020 Working Defniton of St. Benet’s Hall, Oxford; member of the philosophy faculty at of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as Antsemitsm Oxford University antsemitc.’ At frst sight, this seems to provide for free speech, but actually it does the opposite, for it implies that excessive critcism of Israel is, in and of itself, antsemitc. But it is not – any more than excessive critcism of the PLO is necessarily racist against Arabs or Palestnians. Excessive critcism is just a fact of politcal life, especially when feelings run as high as they do in the context of Israel and Palestne…The line between contentous and non-contentous speech is diferent from the line between antsemitc and non-antsemitc speech (or racist and non-racist speech in general). It is vital that these two lines are clearly distnguished. The Working Defniton blurs them.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 28 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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22 Sept Redefning ant-Semitsm Al Jazeera/Nebe Gordon - Marie Curie Fellow and Professor “This defniton, which has been endorsed or adopted in some ofcial capacity by more 2020 on Facebook of Internatonal Law at Queen Mary University of London. than 30 countries, includes 11 examples of ant-Semitsm, several of which involve critcism of Israel. This is just the latest concrete manifestaton of how any critque of the Israeli government and its politcs now assumes the taint of ant-Semitsm. There is, to be sure, some irony here. Historically, the fght against ant-Semitsm has sought to advance the equal rights and emancipaton of Jews. Yet, in the IHRA defniton those who speak out against the subjugaton of Palestnians are called ant-Semites. Thus, instead of enabling the struggle against those wish to oppress, dominate and exterminate Jews, this new defniton of ant-Semitsm comes afer those who wish to take part in the struggle for liberaton from colonial rule. In this way – as Judith Butler has observed – ‘a passion for justce [is] renamed as ant-Semitsm’.”
7 Sept Joint leter of 56 scholars 56 scholars on antsemitsm “we wish to issue a stark warning against adopton and applicaton by Facebook of the 2020 to Facebook: Don't adopt Also see: Dear Facebook: Please don’t adopt the IHRA defniton of antsemitsm used by the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance the “IHRA defniton of defniton of antsemitsm (IHRA)…the IHRA defniton is highly problematc and controversial…It is also not antsemitsm” neutral nor nuanced. The aforementoned“contemporary examples of antsemitsm” atached to it extend to critcism directed at the State of Israel and confate such critcism with antsemitsm. These examples are treated as an integral part of the defniton.Worse, the examples are being weaponized to atack, delegitmize and silence actvists, experts, human rights defenders and civil society organizatons critcizing the State of Israel and Zionism within the limits of freedom of speech.Such abuse has been condemned by leading scholars of antsemitsm.”
19 Aug Israel-Advocacy Groups Jewish Currents/Lara Friedman - Foundaton for Middle East “as atorney Kenneth Stern—an expert on antsemitsm who was the lead drafer on the 2020 Urge Facebook to Label Peace text that became the IHRA defniton—has repeatedly expressed, this defniton and its Critcism of Israel as Hate examples were never intended to be used as a formalized, enforceable defniton of Speech antsemitsm, and turning them into one has raised serious free speech concerns. The American Civil Libertes Union described early eforts to codify the IHRA into law as ‘part of a disturbing surge of government-led atempts to suppress the speech of people on only one side of the Israel-Palestne debate . . . on college campuses, in state contracts, and even in bills to change the federal law.’ If social media networks like Facebook adopt the Israel-related examples in the IHRA defniton and allow these to guide their hate speech policies, it will likely lead to similar eforts to suppress free speech, this tme in the online sphere.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 29 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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31 July Palestnians in the UK Omar Al-Qatan Chairman of the board of trustees, AM “As Britsh Palestnians, some citzens, others stll stateless refugees, we remain bound 2018 speak out for the right to Qatan Foundaton, Atallah Said Chairman, Britsh by our common history, when previous generatons of Palestnians were violently freedom of speech Palestnian Policy Council, Professor Kamel Hawwash denied the right to self-determinaton by the Britsh colonial power ruling Palestne University of Birmingham, Professor Karma Nabulsi from 1918. Deprived of our sovereign rights to our land, we were dispossessed of it by Univerity of Oxford, Nadia Hijab Author and human rights force in the establishment of the state of Israel, which the Britsh colonial occupaton advocate, Dr Aimee Shalan Charity chief executve, Ben oversaw through 1947 to 1948. There exist vast bodies of publicly available records, Jamal Director, Palestne Solidarity Campaign, Mazen Masri scholarly evidence and ofcial testmonies to afrm these facts. The reality of the Managing director, Edgo, philanthropist, Sawsan Asfari Palestnian people’s ongoing dispossession belongs to the public space: Palestnian Philanthropist, founder educatonal charites, Zaher Birawi people have the right to impart informaton about these present and past injustces, as Chairman, Europal Forum, Salma Karmi-Ayyoub Barrister, every Britsh citzen has the right to hear this informaton, along with the ideas and Professor Suleiman Sharkh University of Southhampton, arguments that emerge directly from it. Accordingly, any use by public bodies of the Professor Izzat Darwazeh UCL, Dr Adam Hanieh Reader in IHRA examples on antsemitsm that either inhibits discussion relatng to our development, Soas, Dr Dina Matar Soas, Feras Abu Helal dispossession by ethnic cleansing, when Israel was established, or atempts to silence Editor-in-chief, journalist, Dr Nimer Sultany Senior lecturer public discussions on current or past practces of setler colonialism, apartheid, racism in public law, Soas, Dr Ghada Karmi Insttute of Arab and and discriminaton, and the ongoing violent military occupaton, directly contravenes Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, Akram Salhab Refugee core rights. First, the inalienable rights of the Palestnian people, who remain protected and migrant organiser, Karl Sabbagh Author and publisher, by internatonal laws and conventons; and second, the rights of all those Britsh citzens Dr Ahmed Khalidi Academic visitor, St Antony’s College, who stand by our side, in the solidarity of a common humanity.” Oxford, Samir Eskanda Musician, Selma Dabbagh Author, Ahmed Masoud Writer and director, Omar Shweiki Director, HE educatonal charity, Hanna Khalil Playwright, Kareem Samara Musician Ahmed Ziat Humanitarian aid coordinator
28 Jul The IHRA Defniton of The Politcal Quarterly/Rebecca Ruth Gould - Professor of “This artcle is among the frst to adopt a global perspectve on the defniton—both its 2020 Antsemitsm: Denying Islamic Studies and Comparatve Literature at the University history and its content—clarifying the politcal stakes of this defniton and broader Antsemitsm by Erasing of Birmingham paratextual apparatus for a general audience, and provides an explanaton of why it Palestnians should be rejected rather than used to censor Israel-critcal speech.”
8 Jun Waging Lawfare Jewish Currents/Natasha Roth-Rowland “When the dust setled, the order’s true functon came into focus: quashing speech and 2020 actvism critcal of Israel—especially on college campuses—and further delegitmizing the Palestnian cause, using civil rights law as a tool. The order instructs government agencies to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in complaints involving antsemitsm on college campuses, and to refer to the controversial Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working defniton of antsemitsm as a guide. It specifcally names a secton of the IHRA defniton that lists ways in which critcism of Israel may be considered antsemitc. By the end of the month, three federal complaints had been fled with the Department of Educaton (DoE) alleging antsemitsm on various campuses.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 30 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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27 Feb Independent Jewish “UPDATED: Over 400 Canadian academics have now signed “Antsemitsm is an imminent and increasingly deadly threat to Jews. However, we do 2020 Voices: Open Leter from on to an open leter” opposing the IHRA defniton of not believe that the adopton of this defniton serves the purpose of defeatng this 400+ Canadian Academics antsemitsm.” insidious form of hatred. The IHRA defniton, which has recently been adopted by the Opposing the IHRA Canadian government, is worded in such a way as to intentonally equate legitmate Defniton of Canadian Federaton of Students statement in support of critcisms of Israel and advocacy for Palestnian rights with antsemitsm. This confaton Antsemitsm the IJV stance. undermines both the Palestnian struggle for freedom, justce and equality and the global struggle against antsemitsm. It also serves to shield Israel from accountability to universal standards of human rights and internatonal law. We believe that the adopton of the IHRA defniton of antsemitsm by Canadian academic insttutons would create a “chilly climate” in relaton to forms of teaching, research and actvism on Israel and Palestne. We urge all those who value honest debate and academic freedom to reject the impositon of a defniton that would imperil the pursuit of truth and the legitmate expression of dissent."
20 Feb States are Moving to Jewish Currents/Lara Friedman - Foundaton for Middle East “Kenneth Stern, the lead author of the IHRA defniton, has long made clear that the 2020 Class Critcism of Israel as Peace language was never intended to be used this way, and that doing so raises serious free Antsemitsm speech concerns. Such concerns have proved well-founded, with Trump’s executve order opening the door for a food of complaints ted to alleged antsemitc incidents. All of the alleged ofenses relate to violatons of the IHRA’s Israel-related provisions, which fall outside the scope of what has traditonally been defned as antsemitsm—that is, hostlity toward Jews simply because they are Jewish. Universites that have already come under atack in the two months since the issuance of the executve order include Georgetown, Columbia (two separate claims), UCLA, Duke and the University of North Carolina, and Georgia Tech, as well as Middle East Studies Natonal Resource Centers (NRCs) natonwide. “
30 Jan Fault lines in the fght Insttute of Race Relatons/Liz Fekete “The Palestnian diaspora in the UK is being dispossessed of the right to interpret their 2020 against racism and experience of the Israeli occupaton of Palestnian lands, even as the diversity of Jewish antsemitsm opinion in the UK is denied, leading to the stereotyping and denigraton of dissentent voices of Jewish socialists and Jewish ant-Zionists, who are in danger of being pilloried as ‘fringe Jews’.”
9 Jan The scholar who wrote Times of Israel/Erik Cortellessa, interviewing Kenneth Stern “Stern, who now directs the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, said that right-leaning 2020 the defniton of ant- Jewish leaders had been pushing for the adopton of the defniton in educatonal Semitsm says it’s been setngs for a decade. ‘Since 2010, people on the Jewish right have been trying to take subverted the defniton, marry it with the powers under Title VI and use it as a way to try and suppress pro-Palestnian speech on campus,’ he said. ‘As much as I might agree with some of the critcisms of that speech, there’s a way you deal with that on a campus: You think critcally about it and push back.’”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 31 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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January Backgrounder on Eforts Palestne Legal “Antsemitsm—hatred, violence, intmidaton or discriminaton targetng Jews because 2020 to Redefne Antsemitsm of their ethnic and religious identty—is rampant and deadly. Despite the clear threat of as a Means of Censoring ant-Jewish rhetoric and atacks from white supremacists, however, many Israel lobby Critcism of Israel groups have instead focused on redefning antsemitsm to include critcism of Israel. The backgrounder below explains the atempts by Israel lobby groups to redefne antsemitsm to include critcism of Israel and to use the redefniton as a tool to censor politcal debate by tarring those who support Palestnian rights as ant-Jewish.”
January OCCUPATION and 11.11.11 (Belgian NGO platorm) “Since its adopton, the IHRA defniton has already proven to be an efectve tool to 2020 SHRINKING SPACE - THE atack critcism of the State of Israel and its policies. For example, afer its adopton by ATTACK ON CIVIL SOCIETY the UK government in December 2016, the IHRA defniton was used to put pressure on IN THE OCCUPIED the organizers of events about Israel and its violaton of Palestnian rights, accusing PALESTINIAN TERRITORY them of ant-Semitsm because they were allegedly singling out Israel and applying AND IN ISRAEL double standards. A few of such events have consequently been cancelled in the UK. In Germany, the Bundestag also adopted a moton equatng the Boycot, Divestment and Sanctons (BDS) movement with ant-Semitsm, which references the IHRA defniton. This moton already has negatve consequences for the democratc space in Germany..”
19 Dec ‘Completely Jewish Weekly/Gabe Stutman "Professors such as John Efron (Koret Professor of Jewish History at UC Berkeley) and 2019 wrongheaded’: Local Steven Zipperstein (Koshland Professor in Jewish Culture and History at Stanford Jewish studies profs University) said they could not ofer support for the order, which relies on the skewer Trump’s order Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance resoluton that ant-Israel actvity is akin targetng campus ant- to ant-Semitsm. ‘You’ll have a very, very hard tme fnding such support [for the Semitsm executve order] among those of us who understand the workings of university life,’ Zipperstein wrote in an email to J. The Jewish studies professors contacted by J. tended to see the order as, at best, an empty gesture by the administraton meant to score politcal points or, at worst, a dangerous incursion into the free-speech rights of those who would critque Israel on college campuses, longtme bastons of free speech.”
13 Dec I drafed the defniton of Kenneth Stern/The Guardian "Fifeen years ago, as the American Jewish Commitee’s antsemitsm expert, I was the 2019 antsemitsm. Rightwing lead drafer of what was then called the “working defniton of antsemitsm”. It was Jews are weaponizing it created primarily so that European data collectors could know what to include and exclude. That way antsemitsm could be monitored beter over tme and across borders. It was never intended to be a campus hate speech code, but that’s what Donald Trump’s executve order accomplished this week. This order is an atack on academic freedom and free speech, and will harm not only pro-Palestnian advocates, but also Jewish students and faculty, and the academy itself.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 32 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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12 Dec How Donald Trump is Responsible Statecraf/Lara Friedman - Foundaton for “At the heart of Trump’s executve order is the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance 2019 Saving the Occupaton by Middle East Peace Alliance (IHRA) defniton of antsemitsm. This defniton includes a set of illustratve Dismantling the First examples provided as guidelines setng limits on what is to be considered legitmate Amendment critcism of Israel, unlike anything that exists for any other country or issue…According to these guidelines, critcism of Israel is ipso facto antsemitsm if it focuses solely on Israel, rather than targetng other countries with similar critques. Likewise, critcism of Israel that questons Israel’s right to exist is considered, again, ipso facto antsemitsm. What will that mean in practce? We will soon fnd out, but as a guess: A Palestnian talking about her lived experience under occupaton? Almost certainly antsemitsm. A Palestnian refugee talking about what it means to want to return to his ancestral homeland or challenging the Israeli narratve of Israeli manifest destny in a land- without-a-people-for-a-people-without-a-land? Antsemitsm! Student actvists trying to organize support for Palestnian human and civil rights? Antsemitsm! Likewise, experts and academics on Israel-Palestne like me, or like my colleagues in Israeli human rights groups, talking about their areas of expertse? Say it with me now: Antsemitsm. Given that numerous groups are already waging lawfare against critcs of Israel on U.S. campuses, this is by no means hypothetcal. Indeed, mere hours afer Trump signed his order, a Republican congressman, working in close cooperaton with one of the groups that has for years been atacking Israel-related free speech on U.S. campuses, sent a leter demanding that the Department of Educaton investgate and halt funding to a major U.S. university for actvites critcal of Israel that now must deemed antsemitsm. The goal of this efort, and the ones that will certainly follow, is clear: to punish campuses that protect free speech on Israel-Palestne, and to have a chilling efect on academic insttutons across the board, ensuring that campus administrators and donors choose to preemptvely quash critcism and actvism related to Israel rather than risk reputatonal harm, legal jeopardy, and potental loss of funding.”
12 Dec The Real Purpose of The New Yorker/Masha Gessen “Both Kushner and the executve order refer to the defniton of ant-Semitsm that was 2019 Trump’s Executve Order formulated, in 2016, by the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance; it has since on Ant-Semitsm been adopted by the State Department. The defniton supplies examples of ant- Semitsm, and Kushner cited the most problematc of these as the most important: ‘the targetng of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectvity’; denial to ‘the Jewish people their right to self-determinaton, e.g. by claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavor’; and comparing ‘contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.’ All three examples perform the same sleight of hand: they reframe oppositon to or critcism of Israeli policies as oppositon to the state of Israel. And that, says Kushner, is ant-Semitsm.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 33 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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12 Dec Why Trump’s Judaism Washington Post Editorial Board “The order signed Wednesday by the president specifcally targets colleges and 2019 executve order is too universites by classifying Judaism not only as a religion but also as a race or natonality, narrow and too broad thereby enabling the federal government to penalize insttutons deemed to tolerate a climate of bias.This is too narrow in training its sights only on academia when so many hateful occurrences have occurred at synagogues, Jewish cemeteries and elsewhere. It deals with campus incidents too broadly by threatening to suppress speech that may be refexively labeled as bigoted if, for instance, it atacks Israel. If critcism of Israeli policies is refexively confated with ant-Semitsm, then robust debate and academic freedom will sufer.”
12 Dec Trump ant-Semitsm LA Times Editorial Board “an executve order signed by President Trump on Wednesday, supposedly to further 2019 order could undermine that goal, includes language that is far too broad and could end up undermining free free speech speech on campus, a cause to which the president also has commited his administraton…Harsh critcism of Israel — even if it involves questoning the existence of a Jewish state — is speech protected by the 1st Amendment. It should also be permited by private colleges that receive federal funds. Students have a right to be protected from harassment and discriminaton, but they don’t need to be shielded from opinions they fnd objectonable or ofensive.”
11 Dec Trump’s Executve Order New York Times Editorial Board “Mr. Trump’s executve order points agencies to the defniton of ant-Semitsm 2019 and the Rise of Ant- prepared by the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. This defniton includes Semitsm several examples of speech that should be covered by the First Amendment, like “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” For this reason Kenneth Stern, the lead author of the defniton, wrote in the Times that it shouldn’t be applied to higher educaton. The agency’s defniton was prepared for data collectors writng reports in Europe, not for government ofcials policing campus speech. It is true that ant-Israel speech, whether on campus or in Congress, makes some Jews feel unsafe, especially those who feel that Zionism is intrinsic to Jewish identty. Some worry that critcs of Israel too ofen blame all Jews for the actons of the Jewish state halfway around the world. Others share critcs’ concerns about Israeli actons but fnd themselves unwelcome as allies, because of hostlity toward the Jewish state.”
11 Dec Trump’s Executve Order J Street "“This executve order, like the stalled congressional legislaton it is based on, appears 2019 is a Cynical, Harmful designed less to combat ant-Semitsm than to have a chilling efect on free speech and Measure Designed to to crack down on campus critcs of Israel. J Street is commited to fghtng all forms of Suppress Free Speech on ant-Semitsm — and we feel it is misguided and harmful for the White House to College Campuses, Not unilaterally declare a broad range of nonviolent campus critcism of Israel to be ant- Fight Ant-Semitsm Semitc, especially at a tme when the prime driver of ant-Semitsm in this country is the xenophobic, white natonalist far-right.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 34 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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10 Dec UPDATED: FIRE statement FIRE (Foundaton for Individual Rights in Educaton) “While the order is couched in language intended to paper over the readily evident 2019 regarding executve order threat to expressive rights, its ambiguous directve and fundamental reliance on the on campus ant-Semitsm IHRA defniton and its examples will cause insttutons to investgate and censor protected speech on their campuses. Having spent 20 years defending speakers from across the politcal spectrum, FIRE knows all too well that colleges and universites will rush to punish student and faculty speakers in an atempt to avoid federal investgaton and enforcement.”
6 Dec A call from Jewish Verso Books - A group of 127 Jewish intellectuals from "We urge the Natonal Assembly not to support a resoluton that wrongly equates ant- 2019 academics to French MPs across the world called on French MPs not to support the Zionism with ant-Semitsm. Do not support a resoluton that approves IHRA’s politcized - An appeal from French resoluton on combatng ant-Semitsm that was debated defniton of ant-Semitsm, especially if it does so without distancing itself from the academics for the and voted on in the Natonal Assembly on 3rd and 4th problematc examples in the defniton that concern Israel.” Natonal Assembly to December. reject the IHRA defniton of antsemitsm.
4 Nov Open Leter to French Open leter signed by François Leroux, president of the [translated from French] the IHRA defniton “represents a threat to any legitmate 2019 Deputes from 39 French Platorm for French NGOs for Palestne (a grouping of critcism against the State of Israel, regularly accused of violatng numerous treates and NGOs and Associatons 39 French civil society organizatons et associatons; instruments of the internatonal law of which France is the guarantor. ..Our Against the Draf Bertrand Heilbronn, president the Associaton France organizatons are worried about the rise of ant-Semitsm in France and believe that the Resoluton on Palestne Solidarité (AFPS); Malik Salemkour, president of fght against all forms of racism must be waged frmly. We also afrm the right to Antsemitsm/Antzionism the league of Human Rights (LDH); Emmanuel Charles, co- critcize the policy of any state, including the state of Israel when it commits violatons president of RITIMO; Renée Le Mignot, president of the of human rights and internatonal humanitarian law. We are worried about the Movement against racism and for friendship between assimilaton between ant-Zionism and ant-Semitsm that the resoluton induces and peoples (MRAP); Marc Stenger, president of Pax Christ; which amounts to calling into queston the right to freedom of expression enshrined in Dominique Lesafre, Director General of Solidarity our French law, including consttutonal law.” Internatonal for Development and Investment (SIDI); André Rosevègue et Béatrice Orès, president de the Jewish French Union for Peace (UJFP)
Sept Expert Opinion on the Rosa Luxemburg Foundaton/Peter Ullirch - Dr. phil. Dr. rer. “The weaknesses of the “Working Defniton” are the gateway to its politcal 2019 “Working Defniton of med., Technische Universität Berlin, Fellow at the Center for instrumentalizaton, for instance for morally discreditng opposing positons in the Arab- Antsemitsm” of the Research on Antsemitsm (ZfA), co-head of the research Israeli confict with the accusaton of antsemitsm. This has relevant implicatons for Internatonal Holocaust unit “Social Movements, Technology, Conficts” at the Center fundamental rights. The increasing implementaton of the “Working Defniton” as a Remembrance Alliance for Technology and Society (ZTG) & member of the Insttute quasi-legal basis for administratve acton promises regulatory potental. In fact, it is for Social Movement Studies (ipb) instead an instrument that all but invites arbitrariness. It can be used to abridge fundamental rights partcularly freedom of speech with respect to disfavoured positons on Israel. In contrast to what the designaton “Working Defniton” suggests, no further development of the defniton to rectfy these weaknesses is occurring.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 35 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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10 Sept Canada’s new defniton University Afairs (Canada)/Jefrey Sachs - lecturer in the “Alongside traditonal examples of ant-Semitsm, the IHRA includes statements like 2019 of ant-Semitsm is a departments of history and politcs at Acadia University. ‘denying the Jewish people the right to self-determinaton,’ ‘claiming that the existence threat to campus free of Israel is a racist endeavor,’ and holding Israel to a standard of behavior ‘not expected speech or demanded of any other democratc naton.’ In other words, the IHRA defniton explicitly confates critcism of Israel with ant-Semitsm. Make no mistake, this is about targetng critcs of Israel and pro-Palestnian actvists, especially those on university campuses. Supporters have been quite clear on this point, suggestng, for example, that universites should use the new defniton to censure and silence popular campus events like Israel Apartheid Week and movements like Boycot, Divestment, and Sanctons (BDS).”
10 Aug I warned that adoptng Independent (UK)/Antony Lerman - former director of the “Together with other critcs of the defniton, I warned that those hit hardest by the 2019 the IHRA would shut UK-based Insttute for Jewish Policy Research steamroller campaign to force Labour to adopt the IHRA text in full in September 2018 down Palestnian protest on the spurious grounds that it was the “universally accepted,” “gold standard” – I’ve been proved right defniton, without which the party would never resolve its perceived antsemitsm problem, would be Palestnians. Merely by describing their experience of Zionism (self- determinaton for Jews alone) as dispossession, denial of rights, ongoing Nakba – catastrophe – they would fall foul of the defniton, and many would remain silent for fear of the consequences. Never mind that their experiences have been documented, in numerous defnitve studies, by Jewish Israeli historians since the 1990s. We also cautoned that adopton by government, local authorites, universites and other public insttutons would do nothing to protect Jews. In fact it was likely to make things worse. We were right.”
5 Aug Distortng the defniton +972 Magazine/Amos Goldberg (Professor at the "Right-wing politcians, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli 2019 of antsemitsm to shield Department of the Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry right-wing media, have understood that the focus of the fght against antsemitsm has Israel from all critcism at Hebrew University) & Raz Segal (Assistant Professor of shifed from racist natonalists to critcism of Israel, and they use the catastrophic IHRA Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Stockton University, New defniton for their purposes…the right understands very well the powerful potental of Jersey) the IHRA defniton, not only for the purpose of shielding Zionism from any critcism, but also for defending the occupaton itself. The government of Israel and its representatves, as well as many pro-Israeli organizatons all over the world, are remarkably successful in silencing critcism of Israel’s policies by playing this card. Using the IHRA’s poor defniton of antsemitsm, they have succeeded in completely changing the discourse: rather than talk about the occupaton, the Nakba, or its violaton of natonal, human and civil rights, the dominant public discourse now revolves around what is or is not forbidden when it comes to critcism of Israel, and to what extent said critcism is antsemitc. In this reality, Israel no longer needs to defend itself against allegaton — it has a free hand to throw around accusatons.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 36 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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Jul A Critque of the Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) — Canada “Antsemitsm is a real problem. It must be fought in all its forms. But adopton of the 2019 Internatonal Holocaust IHRA defniton is the wrong approach. Labelling all critcism of Israel’s behaviour as RemembranceAlliance antsemitsm does nothing to combat hatred of Jewish people, which today is very ofen Working Defniton of linked to white supremacy. Moreover, silencing legitmate critcism of Israel impedes the Antsemitsm struggle for human rights and a just peace in Israel/Palestne. The real fght against antsemitsm must be joined to the struggles against racism, xenophobia and hatred of all ethnic and religious groups, as well as to the struggle for equality and human rights for all people —in Canada, in Israel/Palestne and around the world”
18 June The BCCLA opposes the Britsh Columbia Civil Libertes Associaton “The IHRA defniton of antsemitsm is extremely vague, open to misinterpretaton, and 2019 internatonal campaign to the document states that it is ‘non-legally binding.’ Not only is the text unsuitable for adopt the Internatonal any legal or administratve purpose in Canada, but the accompanying ‘illustratons’ Holocaust Remembrance suggest that the defniton confates critques of the state of Israel with antsemitsm. Associaton (IHRA) We were concerned about this blurring of the line between denunciaton of actons by defniton of antsemitsm the Israeli state and hatred for Jewish people when the House of Commons voted to formally condemn the Boycot, Divestment and Sanctons campaign in 2016. We fear that if adopted, the IHRA defniton will serve to severely chill politcal expressions of critcism of Israel as well as support for Palestnian rights.”
Summer Hate Is on the Rise. How Canadian Friends Service Commitee/Mathew Legge “While the IHRA says, ‘critcism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country 2019 We Respond Maters cannot be regarded as antsemitc,’ several of their illustratons don’t make this at all clear. Such clarity is important, because failing to provide it while adoptng the IHRA defniton could result in chilling or even criminalizing human rights protests, like the boycot, divestment, sanctons movement. Two professors with expertse on the Holocaust, Amos Goldberg and Raz Segal, have writen about how they see this happening. Among other concerns, they note that the IHRA defniton means ‘the burden of proof lies with critcs of Israel, who are constantly asked to prove that they are not ant-Semites.’"
4 May The campaign to equate Al Monitor/Yossi Beilin - former Israeli minister of Justce, “The Israeli government’s campaign equatng ant-Zionism with ant-Semitsm has 2019 ant-Zionism with ant- minister of religious afairs, former head of Meretz achieved considerable success. In May 2016, the Internatonal Alliance for Holocaust Semitsm Remembrance (IHRA) decided to add “targetng of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectvity” to its defniton of ant-Semitsm….Israel wants anyone seeking its friendship to identfy ant-Zionism with ant-Semitsm. I am not sure, however, that this is the right batle for Israel to wage, and I have a hard tme understanding how this formula benefts the country. The Zionist idea envisioned all the Jews of the world gathering in Israel, but not everyone who rejects this idea is an ant-Semite.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 37 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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1 May How Not to Fight Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) — Canada “The IHRA adopted Stern’s defniton quickly and with no debate. It was subsequently 2019 Antsemitsm picked up by the government of Israel and other Zionist organizatons because it was a handy cudgel — with the imprimatur of the IHRA, an organizaton whose mandate is Holocaust educaton and memorializaton — with which to beat back critcism of Israel, ant-Zionist and Palestnian rights discourses, and the Boycot, Divestment and Sanctons (BDS) movement. Zionist organizatons and their allies are now working to give the IHRA-WDA legal and administratve power, something it was never intended to have and for which it is totally unft.”
May Backgrounder on Eforts Palestne Legal “The redefniton brands critcs of Israel and advocates for Palestnian rights as ant- 2019 to Redefne Antsemitsm Jewish by blurring important distnctons between critcism of Israel as a naton-state as a Means of Censoring and antsemitsm. In fact, Jewish people and the Israeli state are not one and the same. Critcism of Israel Over half the world’s Jewish populaton lives outside of Israel. Over twenty percent of Israel’s populaton is not Jewish. The inaccurate assumpton that the Israeli government represents Jewish people worldwide is itself antsemitc because it necessarily atributes Israeli government policies and practces to all Jews. Many Jews, including Israeli Jews, join people of all faiths from across the globe in critcizing Israel. Those critcisms are not based on ant-Jewish hate, but on the policies of the government of Israel as a naton- state.”
7 Debunking the myth that Peter Beinart “It is an understandable impulse: let the people threatened by antsemitsm defne March ant-Zionism is antsemitc antsemitsm. The problem is that, in many countries, Jewish leaders serve both as 2019 defenders of local Jewish interests and defenders of the Israeli government. And the Israeli government wants to defne ant-Zionism as bigotry because doing so helps Israel kill the two-state soluton with impunity. For years, Barack Obama and John Kerry warned that if Israel contnued the setlement growth in the West Bank that made a Palestnian state impossible, Palestnians would stop demanding a Palestnian state alongside Israel and instead demand one state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, neither Jewish nor Palestnian, that replaces Israel. Defning ant- Zionism as antsemitsm reduces that threat. It means that if Palestnians and their supporters respond to the demise of the two-state soluton by demanding one equal state, some of the world’s most powerful governments will declare them bigots. Which leaves Israel free to entrench its own version of one state, which denies millions of Palestnians basic rights. Silencing Palestnians isn’t a partcularly efectve way to fght rising antsemitsm, much of which comes from people who like neither Palestnians nor Jews. But, just as important, it undermines the moral basis of that fght. Antsemitsm isn’t wrong because it is wrong to denigrate and dehumanise Jews. Antsemitsm is wrong because it is wrong to denigrate and dehumanise anyone. Which means, ultmately, that any efort to fght antsemitsm that contributes to the denigraton and dehumanisaton of Palestnians is no fght against antsemitsm at all.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 38 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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29 Jan Leter to Professor Dame Britsh Society of Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES)/Stuart “the IHRA defniton is incompatble with principles of academic freedom, and likely to 2019 Janet Beer on the IHRA Laing- BRISMES President stfe freedom of speech in the university system.” defniton of antsemitsm
3 Dec Leter: Civil Rights Groups Center for Consttutonal RIghts + 10 other civil rights groups “The IHRA defniton of antsemitsm provides no new legal protectons for Jewish 2018 Demand DOE Assistant students who are subjected to discriminaton. It carves out special treatment for Secretary Marcus End students to be shielded from critcism of Israel. Such protecton from politcal opinions Atacks on Free Speech and human rights advocacy against the abuses of a foreign state has no grounding in statute, and in fact would violate the U.S. Consttuton and bedrock principles of academic freedom intended to ensure open debate.”
23 Nov The government that YNet/Susie Becher - Managing Editor of the Palestne-Israel “The Israeli government’s calculated obfuscaton of the line between ant-Semitsm and 2018 cried 'wolf!' Journal and a member of the Policy Working Group oppositon to its policies, or even oppositon to the concept of a Jewish state, should be of concern to Jews worldwide…The problem lies not with the IHRA’s defniton itself, which basically speaks of hatred toward Jews. It’s the illustratve examples that give one pause. Among them are “targetng the state of Israel” and “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determinaton.” With these phrases, the IHRA statement blurs the distncton between hatred of the Jewish people and oppositon to Israeli government policies, the noton of Israel as a Jewish state, or even to the very establishment of the State of Israel.”
10 Nov Israeli Academics and Haaretz/Ofer Aderet “An open leter from 35 prominent Israelis, including Jewish-history scholars and Israel 2018 Artsts Warn Against Prize laureates, was published Tuesday in the Austrian media calling for a distncton Equatng ant-Zionism between legitmate critcism of Israel, ‘harsh as it may be,’ and ant-Semitsm…The With ant-Semitsm signatories accuse Netanyahu of suggestng an equivalence between ant-Israel critcism and ant-Semitsm. The ofcial declaraton by the conference also notes that ant- Semitsm is ofen expressed through disproportonate critcism of Israel, but the leter warns that such an approach could ‘aford Israel immunity against critcism for grave and widespread violatons of human rights and internatonal law.’”
17 Oct A Climate of Intmidaton Inside Higher Ed/Tallie Ben-Daniel “White supremacist groups have turned their vitriol to college campuses under the 2018 Trump administraton. Those hate groups exploit the First Amendment to openly recruit members, stage rallies and garner news-media atenton. Faced with this rise of open racism, Islamophobia and ant-Semitsm, college and university administratons have struggled to balance protectng the First Amendment while also providing a welcoming educatonal environment to marginalized students. This is surely a tme for strong guidance from the U.S. Department of Educaton’s Ofce for Civil Rights. But instead of providing that guidance, Kenneth Marcus, the assistant secretary for civil rights, has launched a campaign against students who support Palestnian human rights and the colleges and universites that permit them such freedom of speech.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 39 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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31 Aug Ant-Semitsm row: Middle East Eye “The "working defniton" of ant-Semitsm adopted in 2016 by the Internatonal 2018 Leading QC says IHRA Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) may suppress legitmate critcism of Israel defniton unenforceable while failing to cover "the most insidious forms of hostlity to Jewish people", a leading and misleading Britsh barrister said in a legal opinion released on Friday. Geofrey Robertson, a renowned legal scholar with expertse on human rights and free speech, said the Britsh government's adopton of the IHRA's defniton in 2016 ‘has no legal efect’, as it was announced by Prime Minister Theresa May without input from the parliament. “
30 Aug WCC comment on IHRA World Council of Churches “The risk of a vague defniton of antsemitsm, even if widely accepted, is that it may be 2018 defniton of antsemitsm misused to pre-empt proper atenton to violatons of internatonal humanitarian and human rights law.”
20 Aug How the IHRA Planet Magazine/Mike Joseph (Welsh genocide historian) “The Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s code1 should worry everyone, 2018 antsemitsm defniton especially Jews. It achieves what generatons of antsemitsm have not, discreditng the atacks Jews very concept of antsemitsm, by weaponising it in defence of the Israeli government.”
18 Aug Legal Form and Legal Law, Culture & the Humanites/Rebecca Ruth Gould “The challenge posed by legal indeterminacy to legal legitmacy has generally been 2018 Legitmacy: The IHRA considered from points of view internal to the law and its applicaton. But what Defniton of becomes of legal legitmacy when the legal status of a given norm is itself a mater of Antsemitsm as a Case contestaton? This artcle, the frst extended scholarly treatment of the Internatonal Study in Censored Speech Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s new defniton of antsemitsm, pursues this queston by examining recent applicatons of the IHRA defniton within the UK following its adopton by the Britsh government in 2016. Instead of focusing on this defniton’s substantve content, I show how the document reaches beyond its self-described status as a “non-legally binding working defniton” and comes to functon as what I call a quasi-law, in which capacity it exercises the de facto authority of the law, without having acquired legal legitmacy. Broadly, this work elucidates the role of speech codes in restrictng freedom of expression within liberal states.”
17 Jul First-ever: 40+ Jewish Social justce organizatons from around the world “The Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) defniton of antsemitsm, 2018 groups worldwide oppose which is increasingly being adopted or considered by western governments, is worded equatng antsemitsm in such a way as to be easily adopted or considered by western governments to with critcism of Israel intentonally equate legitmate critcisms of Israel and advocacy for Palestnian rights with antsemitsm, as a means to suppress the former. This confaton undermines both the Palestnian struggle for freedom, justce and equality and the global struggle against antsemitsm. It also serves to shield Israel from being held accountable to universal standards of human rights and internatonal law.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 40 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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17 Jul How should antsemitsm Critcizing the IHRA: Stephen Sedley, Geofrey Bindman, Sedley: “whatever critcism the IHRA’s “examples” may seek to suppress, both Jews and 2018 be defned? - A panel of Jacqueline Rose non-Jews in the UK are enttled, without being stgmatsed as antsemites, to contend Jewish writers considers that a state that by law denies Palestnians any right of self-determinaton is a racist the IHRA defniton of state, or to ask whether there is some moral equivalence between shootng down antsemitsm, which has defenceless Jews in eastern Europe and unarmed Palestnian demonstrators in Gaza.” generated so much Bindman: “the defniton and the examples are poorly drafed, misleading, and in recent debate practce have led to the suppression of legitmate debate and freedom of expression.” Rose: “We need to go on debatng and talking, always alert to the possibility that any one defniton, however well-intentoned, however designed to protect the Jews from the sufering and ravages of their own history, might be harnessed on the side of injustce.”
8 July Richard Burden: Why I’m LabourList.org/ Richard Burden - MP for Birmingham “…Recognising the need to fght antsemitsm should have nothing to do with your 2018 concerned about the Northfeld and chair of the Palestne all-party parliamentary views on Israel and Palestne. But concern has arisen from cases where the IHRA text IHRA defniton of group. has been invoked to suppress legitmate debate over Israel and Palestne, and to hold antsemitsm that statements that allege racism in respect of Israel could be prima facie evidence of antsemitsm on the part of those making such statements. But doesn’t this threaten the freedom of speech of those who argue that the increasing discriminaton sufered by Palestnians both inside Israel and the Occupied Territories raises worrying parallels with Apartheid? We rightly say we must listen carefully when Jews seek to defne the oppression they face, so how can we refuse to do the same when Palestnians speak out about theirs? Whether or not you agree that there are parallels between current Israeli policy and Apartheid, when even former Israeli PM Ehud Barak has used the term Apartheid to describe the current trajectory of Israeli government policy, you’d think it would be far-fetched to believe that discourse like this could be defned as antsemitc here in the UK. Unfortunately, there is already organised pressure to do so, using the wording of the IHRA text as an authority.”
3 July Congress’s Ant-Semitsm The Forward/Barry Trachtenberg - Rubin Chair of Jewish “The ‘Ant-Semitsm Awareness Act’ would compel the Department of Educaton to 2018 Awareness Act Doesn’t History at Wake Forest University. In November of 2017 he utlize a questonable defniton of ant-Semitsm to determine if a wide array of Protect Jews - It Protects testfed about antsemitsm on college campuses before the incidents on college campuses, including student protest, are in violaton of current Israel Judiciary Commitee of the U.S. Congress. He is the author, ant-discriminaton law. The defniton of ant-Semitsm used by the Act is one formerly most recently, of “The United States and the Nazi Holocaust: employed by the State Department, and is writen in such a way that many of the Race, Refuge, and Remembrance” (Bloomsbury, 2018). current debates concerning Israel that occur among Jews in Israel and within the American Jewish community would themselves be classifed as ant-Semitc. Even the original author of the defniton has testfed that it is inappropriate for the purposes of legislaton. The truth is that the Ant-Semitsm Awareness Act is an atempt to suppress student actvism and academic speech that is in support of Palestnian human rights. The bill will defne oppositon to Israeli government policy as ant-Semitsm, equate Judaism with Zionism and sancton schools that permit Palestnian human rights actvism to occur on their campuses.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 41 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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12 June What’s Wrong With the Inside Higher Ed/ Cary Nelson & Other Members of The “…We don’t believe that Congress should be in the business of setng forth ofcial 2018 Ant-Semitsm Awareness Alliance for Academic Freedom defnitons of ant-Semitsm. And we do not think any defniton of ant-Semitsm, Act including one originally drafed with the needs of European data collectors utmost in mind and then adopted (with minor changes) by the U.S. Department of State for diplomatc purposes, has any legitmate applicaton by Congress to contentous politcal speech on campus. Some of us are scholars of ant-Semitsm. We are aware that ant- Semitsm’s manifestatons change over tme. There is a robust debate, both inside the Jewish community and among experts on the issue, over the relatonship between ant- Zionism and ant-Semitsm. Sometmes ant-Zionism consttutes ant-Semitsm; sometmes it doesn’t. Regardless, Congress has no business deciding when it does or doesn’t, nor should it be in efect statng that politcal expressions it deems ant-Semitc are essentally presumed relevant to a Title VI case.”
8 June Enough already. Not all Los Angeles Times Editorial Board “is it necessarily ant-Semitc to harshly critcize the Jewish state or to do so without, in 2018 critcism of Israel is ant- the same breath, critcizing Saudi repression? Is it ant-Semitc to argue that Israel Semitsm should be replaced by something else, such as a secular, binatonal naton? Even those who believe such critcisms of Israel are simplistc or unfair should see that they are far removed from the sort of insults or personal atacks that a university or the federal government can police without running afoul of the 1st Amendment. Even strong supporters of the state of Israel should acknowledge that while there are, of course, ant-Semites among Israel’s many critcs, not all oppositon to Israel is inherently ant- Semitc.”
5 June The Latest Atack on Free ACLU/Manar Waheed & Brian Hauss “ant-Semitc harassment is already illegal under federal law. The new bill does not 2018 Speech in the Israel- ACLU leter to Congress is here. change that fact, but its overbreadth makes it likely that it will instead silence critcism Palestne Debate of Israel that is protected by the First Amendment.”
4 June Concerns regarding the Middle East Studies Associaton leter to Congress “Many of the examples provided in that Fact Sheet clearly confate critcism of Israeli 2018 “Ant-Semitsm actons and policies, and of Zionism as a politcal ideology, with ant-Semitsm. By Awareness Act of 2018” embracing them, the bill would require the Department of Educaton to deploy a very broad and vague defniton of ant-Semitsm which could have a chilling efect on teaching about, and public discussion of, the Israeli-Palestnian confict on college and university campuses. It would, in fact, likely have the perverse efect of defning as ant- Semitsm critcisms of Israel or of Zionism advanced by Israeli or American Jewish scholars, or by some of the Jewish students this legislaton is ostensibly designed to protect.”
1 June Liberty members warn Morning Star (UK) “Human rights campaign group Liberty has warned against the Internatonal Holocaust 2018 against IHRA's defniton Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) defniton of ‘ant-semitsm.’ A resoluton passed by of ant-semitsm members of the group in mid-May says the government-adopted defniton blurred ‘the previously clear understanding of the nature of ant-semitsm’ and risks ‘undermining the defences against it.’ It also said IHRA’s defniton threatened freedom of expression by ‘confatng ant-semitsm with critcism of Israel and legitmate defence of the rights of Palestnians.’”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 42 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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29 May New federal ant- The Fire/Will Creeley - Legal Director “As FIRE has repeatedly pointed out in recent years, incorporatng the State 2018 Semitsm act, same First Department’s defniton threatens speech protected by the First Amendment. The State Amendment problem Department defniton is problematcally vague — it targets “a certain percepton of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews” — and broad enough to allow for the investgaton and punishment of core politcal speech, such as the critcism of Israeli policy. Synchronizing the Department of Educaton’s review of alleged Title VI violatons with this unbounded defniton places campus speech rights at risk.“
24 May Lawmakers Reintroduce Palestne Legal “Yesterday, members of Congress announced the reintroducton of the Ant-Semitsm 2018 Federal Bill Aimed at Awareness Act (ASAA), a bill aimed at censoring Palestne advocacy on college Censoring Palestne campuses by imposing on the U.S. Department of Educaton (DOE) a widely-critcized Advocacy on Campuses and overbroad re-defniton of antsemitsm that classifes virtually all speech critcal of Israel as antsemitc. If enacted, it would be used to justfy investgatons against Palestne actvists on campus while adding no new legal protectons for Jewish students, who are already covered under federal ant-discriminaton laws.”
24 May Defending Rights & Rights & Dissent “Ant-semitsm, like all forms of bigotry, is reprehensible, but the so-called Ant-Semitsm 2018 Dissent Calls on Congress Awareness Act is a cynical atempt to exploit good faith concerns about ant-Semitsm to to Reject Cynically silence student speech. The bill’s real target is not ant-semitsm at all, but student Misnamed Bill Designed politcal speech in support of Palestnian human rights. As such, it is unconsttutonal.” to Hamper Human Rights Advocacy
23 May ACLU Statement on ACLU “the proposed bill risks chilling consttutonally protected speech by incorrectly equatng 2018 Senate Introducton of critcism of Israel with ant-Semitsm. And there is no need for a new bill to protect ‘Ant-Semitsm Awareness students from ant-Semitc harassment, because that is already prohibited under Title Act’ VI. We worry that the law will lead colleges to suppress speech, especially if the Department of Educaton launches investgatons simply because students have engaged in speech critcal of Israel. College campuses should be havens for free expression, and students must be free to express their opinions and viewpoints, so long as they avoid harassment. We urge Congress to reject this dangerous and unnecessary bill.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 43 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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7 Nov Transcript: House See testmony of Professor Barry Trachtenberg, Rubin “Legislaton such as the Ant-Semitsm Awareness Act, however, is not a genuine 2017 Judiciary Commitee Presidental Chair of Jewish History, Director, Jewish Studies atempt to contend with actual ant-Semitsm. But rather is an atempt to quell what are Hearing, “Examining Program, Wake Forest University in fact protected acts of speech that are vital and necessary to the scholarly missions of Ant=Semitsm on College educatonal insttutons and to the functoning of democratc societes…It would be ill- Campuses" advised for Congress to establish legal authority on the defniton of ant-Semitsm that is so deeply contested. To insist that Israel cannot be protested or objected to, to mandate that collectve Jewish power cannot be analyzed or debated, or to concluded that Jews--because they were once victms of humanites greatest genocidal crimes--are somehow immune for becoming perpetrators of violence against other people's reinforces the ant-Semitc believe that Jews are fundamentally diferent people. Most dangerously of all, atempts to broaden the defniton of ant-Semitsm to encompass phenomena that are clearly not ant-Jewish can only make it more difcult to recognize, isolate, and oppose actual ant-Semitc hatred when it does appear.”
7 Nov Writen Testmony of Kenneth Stern, testfying before t the U.S. House of “The defniton was not drafed, and was never intended, as a tool to target or chill 2017 Kenneth S. Stern, Representatves Commitee on the Judiciary speech on a college campus. In fact, at a conference in 2010 about the impact of the Executve Director, Justus defniton, I highlighted this misuse, and the damage it could do.” & Karin Rosenberg Foundaton
7 Nov Writen Testmony of Prof. Prof. Barry Trachtenberg, PhD, testfying before the U.S. “Considering the multple—and constantly shifing—forms of antsemitsm that have 2017 Barry Trachtenberg, PhD, House of Representatves Commitee on the Judiciary emerged since the term “Ant-Semitsm” frst appeared in Germany in the late Wake Forest University nineteenth century, it would be ill-advised for Congress to establish legal authority on a defniton of antsemitsm that is so deeply contested. To insist that Israel cannot be protested or objected to, to mandate that collectve Jewish power cannot be analyzed or debated, or to conclude that Jews, because they were once victms of one of humanity’s greatest genocidal crimes, are somehow immune from becoming perpetrators of acts of violence against other peoples, would only reinforce the antsemitc belief that Jews are a fundamentally diferent people. Moreover, and perhaps most dangerously of all, atempts to broaden the defniton of antsemitsm to encompass phenomena that are clearly not ant-Jewish can only make it more difcult to recognize, isolate, and oppose actual antsemitc hatred when it does appear.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 44 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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2 May Ant-Semitsm bill would The Post & Courier/Shari Rabin (assistant professor in the “In our classrooms, skeptcism and critcal thinking are encouraged and nurtured, not 2017 suppress open discussion Jewish Studies program at the College of Charleston) & forbidden because of contemporary politcal consideratons. Our goal is to encourage (Updat on Israel Joshua Shanes (associate professor) free and open discourse on the widest possible range of ideas, including controversial ed 14 ones. How can we possibly nurture an open environment to consider big questons like Sept the nature of the modern state and competng claims between and within natons if, as 2020) the bill indicates, such discourse is deemed ant-Semitc? Must we declare the vast majority of rabbinic intelligentsia of a century ago to be ant-Semitc because they opposed the idea of Jewish statehood? What about Jews today who follow those rabbinic voices, or even passionate Zionists who are persuaded by Zionist arguments that support a withdrawal from the West Bank? (The bill’s main sponsor has publicly accused such Jews of ant-Semitsm.) Ironically, under this new law, even one of the most respected Israel Studies textbooks in use —– Alan Dowty’s Israel/Palestne — might be deemed ant-Semitc for defending the validity of both Israeli and Palestnian narratves. (Dr. Dowty is about to be honored for lifetme achievement by the Associaton for Israel Studies at Brandeis University.)”
5 May How Legislatve Eforts to Academe Blog/Kenneth S. Stern & Ernst Benjamin “some right-wing Jewish groups and individuals decided to use the antsemitsm 2017 Defne Antsemitsm defniton as part of Title VI-based lawsuits. While the cases also included allegatons of Threaten Academic harassing conduct, they nonetheless complained that about expressions they said Freedom transgressed the defniton. A fnding of a Title VI violaton can result in loss of federal funding. Among the complaints, a program about ‘the Occupaton,’ a flm termed ‘propaganda,’ classroom texts alleged to be ‘one-sided and ant-Israel,’ and a program, ‘Arabs and The Holocaust,’ which allegedly claimed that Israel’s creaton was a ‘tragedy’ for Palestnians. As Kenneth Stern (who was then with the American Jewish Commitee) and then AAUP President Cary Nelson warned six years ago in a joint statement (later repudiated by the AJC), this is a misuse of the defniton and of Title VI, and was an efort to chill politcal speech.”
4 May Defning Ant-Semitsm London Review of Books/Stephen Sedley “Shorn of philosophical and politcal refnements, ant-Semitsm is hostlity towards Jews 2017 as Jews. Where it manifests itself in discriminatory acts or infammatory speech it is generally illegal, lying beyond the bounds of freedom of speech and of acton. By contrast, critcism (and equally defence) of Israel or of Zionism is not only generally lawful: it is afrmatvely protected by law. Endeavours to confate the two by characterising everything other than anodyne critcism of Israel as ant-Semitc are not new. What is new is the adopton by the UK government (and the Labour Party) of a defniton of ant-Semitsm which endorses the confaton.”
4 May Overbroad South Carolina PEN America “A proposed South Carolina bill that would require the state to adopt a federal 2017 “Ant-Semitsm” Bill defniton of ant-Semitsm that encompasses critcism of the state of Israel ofends the Ofends Free Speech, First Amendment, and would likely chill vigorous debate on campus, PEN America said Makes Same Mistake as today.” Federal Legislaton
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 45 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
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25 Apr S.C. ant-Semitsm bill The Post & Courier/Kenneth S. Stern “I’ve spent my professional career opposing hatred and ant-Semitsm. So why am I 2017 isn’t needed against South Carolina adoptng a defniton of ant-Semitsm, based upon one I wrote? H. 3643, now before the Senate Higher Educaton subcommitee, sounds reasonable. It says the defniton of ant-Semitsm should be considered when ‘reviewing, investgatng, or deciding whether there has been a violaton of a college or university policy prohibitng discriminatory practces on the basis of religion.’ But it is really an atempt to create a speech code about Israel. It is an unnecessary law which will hurt Jewish students and the academy.”
27 IHRA defniton of Opinion by Hugh Tomlinson QC “In summary, therefore, it is my view that: · The IHRA ‘non-legally binding working March antsemitsm not ft for [also see Jewsish news/Times of Israel 3 April 2017: Leading defniton’ of antsemitsm is unclear and confusing and should be used with cauton. 2017 purpose lawyer rounds on ‘unclear and confusing’ IHRA ant- The ‘examples’ accompanying the IHRA Defniton should be understood in the light of Semitsm defniton the defniton and it should be understood that the conduct listed is only antsemitc if it manifests hatred towards Jews…The fact that speech is ofensive to a partcular group is not, of itself, a proper ground for prohibiton or sancton. The IHRA Defniton should not be adopted without careful additonal guidance on these issues. Properly understood in its own terms the IHRA Defniton does not mean that actvites such as describing Israel as a state enactng policies of apartheid, as practsing setler colonialism or calling for policies of boycot divestment or sanctons against Israel can properly be characterized as antsemitc. A public authority which sought to apply the IHRA Defniton to prohibit or sancton such actvites would be actng unlawfully.”
27 Feb Free speech on Israel Leter in the Guardian by long list of UK professors “The spike in far-right antsemitc incidents on UK campuses that you report (UK 2017 under atack in universites urged to act over spate of antsemitc stckers and graft, 18 Feb) seems to universites refect the increase in xenophobia since the Brexit vote. Yet the government has “adopted” the Internatonal Holocaust Remembrance Alliance defniton of antsemitsm, which can be and is being read as extending to critcism of Israel and support for Palestnian rights, an entrely separate issue, as prima facie evidence of antsemitsm. This defniton seeks to confate critcism of Israel with antsemitsm.”
3 Feb Correspondent of the Richmond Times-Dispatch/Kenneth Stern “The bill’s defniton is based on one I wrote for European data collectors. It was never 2017 Day: Ant-Semitsm intended to regulate campus speech. Yet previous federal complaints have misused the legislaton bad idea defniton, arguing that ant-Israel or ant-Zionist politcal speech consttutes ant-Semitc harassment, putng the school’s federal funding in jeopardy.”
28 Dec Will Britain’s new David Feldman - professor of history and director of the “Here is the defniton’s key passage: ‘Antsemitsm is a certain percepton of Jews, 2016 defniton of antsemitsm Pears Insttute for the Study of Antsemitsm, School of which may be expressed as hatred towards Jews.’ This is bewilderingly imprecise. The help Jewish people? I’m Social Science, History and Philosophy, Birkbeck, University text also carries dangers. It trails a list of 11 examples. Seven deal with critcism of Israel. sceptcal of London), in the Guardian Some of the points are sensible, some are not. Crucially, there is a danger that the overall efect will place the onus on Israel’s critcs to demonstrate they are not antsemitc. The home afairs commitee advised that the defniton required qualifcaton ‘to ensure that freedom of speech is maintained in the context of discourse on Israel and Palestne’. It was ignored.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 46 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
Date Headline/Link Source/author(s) Excerpt
15 Dec A Bill to Police Campus Wall Street Journal/Erwin Chemerinsky and Howard Gillman “Many people have strong feelings about such views. But the First Amendment protects 2016 Speech the expression of all ideas, even if racist and ant-Semitc. Basic principles of academic freedom require that universites do the same. Schools can prevent and punish threats, harassment and destructon of property, but never the expression of views. Yet this bill would require the Educaton Department to focus on exactly that: the ideas expressed on campus. And the bill covers more than simply hateful speech toward Jewish students. It could include critcizing Israeli policies or arguing against the existence of Israel, speech that is protected by the Consttuton.”
13 Dec Why the Proposed The Faculty Lounge/Steve Lubet “An inclusive defniton of antsemitsm is important for public understanding and civic 2016 "Antsemitsm Awareness educaton, especially when it comes to Israel, but it would be a wrong to turn it into a Act" Is a Bad Idea bludgeon. The risk, therefore, is that the State Department defniton of antsemitsm could be used to cut of campus debate over Israel, or to silence advocates of the Boycot, Divestment, and Sanctons (BDS) movement.”
12 Dec Will Campus Critcism of New York Times/Kenneth S. Stern “What’s next? Should Congress defne what speech is Islamophobic? Ant-Palestnian? 2016 Israel Violate Federal Racist? Ant-white? How about defning ‘ant-United States’ speech? We could dust of Law? the fles of the House Un-American Actvites Commitee…If this bill becomes law it is easy to imagine calls for university administrators to stop pro-Palestnian speech. Even if lawsuits alleging Title VI violatons fail, students and faculty members will be scared into silence, and administrators will err on the side of suppressing or censuring speech.”
6 Dec Senate Passes Bill Aimed Rights & Dissent/Chip Gibbons “the Ant-Semitsm Awareness Act has litle to do with actual ant-Semitsm, and is 2016 at Silencing Pro- instead part of a broader agenda to use the legislatve process to punish supporters of Palestnian Actvism on Palestnian human rights for their advocacy. It seeks to do so by allowing the Campuses Department of Educaton to use the so-called ‘State Department defniton of ant- Semitsm.’”
6 Dec The Ant-Semitsm LA Times/Liz Jackson- Palestne Legal “Since Donald Trump’s electon, a wave of hate atacks have targeted Jews, Muslims and 2016 Awareness Act would other vulnerable groups. What’s the government doing about it? Nothing. But the U.S. damage free speech Senate did pass a bill last week called the Ant-Semitsm Awareness Act, which cracks rights on campus down on the consttutonal rights of college students and faculty to critcize Israel. The House will vote on it any day now. The Ant-Semitsm Awareness Act endorses the State Department defniton of ant-Semitsm, which includes “delegitmizing” Israel, “demonizing” Israel or holding Israel to a “double standard.” The bill directs the Department of Educaton to consider this defniton when investgatng complaints of ant-Semitsm on campus. But the bill does not add any new protectons for Jewish students; the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Department of Educaton’s interpretaton of the statute, already protects Jewish students against discriminaton.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 47 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
Date Headline/Link Source/author(s) Excerpt
6 Dec Leter to Members of Kenneth Stern, writng to Members of Congress in “If denying the right of Israel to exist is enshrined as antsemitsm by law, would 2016 Congress from Kenneth S. oppositon to “The Ant-Semitsm Awareness Act of 2016” Congress then pass parallel legislaton defning oppositon to a Palestnian state as ant- Stern, Executve Director, Palestnianism? Would it adopt a defniton of racism, perhaps including oppositon to Justus & Karin Rosenberg afrmatve acton? Would it pass laws defning Islamophobia, ant-LGBT animus, ant- Foundaton immigrant bias, ant-white bias, etc.? And if campus politcal speech cannot employ “double standards,” as the Department of State defniton rejects regarding Israel, does this mean that politcal speech against China or Russia or the U.S. which doesn’t employ parallels against other countries might someday be legally suspect too?”
5 Dec ACLU leter to Members ACLU "Eliminatng truly ant-Semit ic conduct should be a goal of our entre society. Indeed, 2016 of Congress opposing we should all actvely involve ourselves in encouraging our brothers and sisters to Ant-Semitsm Awareness refrain from ant-Semitc conduct and speech. It is ofensive and harmful. But the First Act Amendment prevents the federal government from using its great weight to impose severe penaltes on a person simp ly for sharing a politcal viewpoint critcal of Israel. Indeed, First Amendment protectons are most important when speakers take controversial or unpopular positons that might arouse strong feelings, passions, and hostlity.”
5 Dec Civil Rights Orgs’ leter to Leter to Reps. Goodlate & Conyers from Palestne Legal, “As civil and human rights organizatons commited to racial justce, we support your 2016 Congressional leaders Center for Consttutonal Rights, Natonal Lawyers Guild, eforts to confront racism and bigotry on campuses across the U.S. However, we write to Jewish Voice for Peace, FCNL, US Campaign for Palestnian raise concerns with the Ant-Semitsm Awareness Act (the Act), which directs the U.S. Rights, Rights & Dissent, AMP, ADC Department of Educaton (DOE) to consider a widely discredited re-defniton of ant- Semitsm in assessing whether alleged violatons of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act are ‘motvated by ant-Semitc intent.’ This vague and overbroad re-defniton confates politcal critcism of Israel with ant-Semitsm, infringing on consttutonally protected speech. The re-defniton is especially detrimental to universites, where freedom of speech, critcal inquiry, and unfetered debate are integral. The re-defniton’s applicaton to college campuses has even been repudiated by its original drafer, Kenneth Stern.”
21 Jun Campus BDS and the law: Jewish Journal/Kenneth Stern “Some in the Jewish community say that academic freedom is important, but not as 2016 First, do no harm important as opposing antsemitsm. Thus they have advocated universites adopt the Department of State Defniton of Antsemitsm, to help identfy what politcal speech should be considered bigoted (a de facto speech code based on a defniton never intended for campus use); encouraged spying on faculty; and presuming that a faculty member’s politcs somehow renders them incapable of evaluatng students’ work based on merits, rather than politcal positon. On top of all this, they have brought and threatened lawsuits complaining about politcal speech. Essentally, the pro-Israel community is perceived to be saying it can’t win the debate on the merits, but instead has to try and shut down the other side.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 48 of 49 Last updated: August 9, 2021
Date Headline/Link Source/author(s) Excerpt
21 Mar Leter to Janet Kenneth Stern “We…are deeply concerned by the proclamaton that ‘Ant-Semitsm, ant-Zionism and 2016 Napolitano, President of other forms of discriminaton have no place at the University of California…while ant- University of California, Zionism, in may instances, refects discriminaton, the direct equaton is too blunt an from Kenneth S. Stern, instrument to adopt. It is no only historically and conceptually inaccurate, it will also Executve Director, Justus shill the ability of students and faculty to express ideas about the Israel/Palestne & Karin Rosenberg confict.” Foundaton
21 Aug The University of Washington Post/Eugene Volokh “Now I generally support Israel, and I do think that much of the critcism of Israel is 2015 California, unfair and quite likely ant-Semitc. But I don’t think the UC administraton has any ‘microaggressions,’ and business condemning this sort of politcal expression related to Israel, whether fair or supposedly ant-Semitc otherwise, and regardless of what we suspect might be in the hearts of those who make critcism of Israel these arguments. What is the right view and what is the wrong view of the confict in the Middle East should be a mater for academics and students to debate, without the university condemning one side as bigots — which, as with the “microaggressions,” sends a strong message to untenured faculty members, graduate students and others that they had beter not say certain things. (Of course, actual discriminaton against Jewish students should indeed be spoken out against, and physical atacks, vandalism and disrupton of events should be forbidden; but that doesn’t require the adopton of the State Department defniton.)”
22 Jun Should a major university LA Times/Kenneth Stern “Those who want the university system to adopt the defniton say it isn’t a speech code 2015 system have a partcular (presumably because they recognize that speech codes are likely unconsttutonal and defniton of ant- anathema to the ideals of academic freedom). But that is precisely what they are Semitsm? seeking.”
22 May State Department’s Ant- The Fire/Will Creeley - Legal Director “In a radio interview yesterday, University of California (UC) President Janet Napolitano 2015 Semitsm Defniton stated that she believes the UC system should adopt the U.S. State Department’s Would Likely Violate First defniton of ant-Semitsm. Responding to recent calls from rabbis, faculty, and alumni Amendment on Public for the UC system to adopt the defniton, Napolitano told Jeremy Hobson of Here & Campuses Now that the Board of Regents will vote on the proposal in July. However, if adopted and used as the basis for discipline by a public university system, the State Department’s defniton of ant-Semitsm would likely violate the First Amendment by prohibitng protected expression.”
20 Apr Cary Nelson and Kenneth Cary Nelson & Ken Stern (American Jewish Commitee); “It is entrely proper for university administrators, scholars and students to reference 2011 Stern Pen Open Leter on leter was later publicly repudiated by the AJC (also see the ‘working defniton’ in identfying defnite or possible instances of antsemitsm on Campus Antsemitsm here) campus. It is a perversion of the defniton to use it, as some are doing, in an atempt to censor what a professor, student, or speaker can say. Because a statement might be ‘countable’ by data collectors under the ‘working defniton’ does not therefore mean that Title VI is violated. To assert this not only contravenes the defniton’s purpose (it was not drafed to label anyone an antsemite or to limit campus speech), it also harms the batle against antsemitsm.”
Author: Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace Page 49 of 49